Obsidian
by witchh
Summary: Kakashi and Erina have been best friends since their childhood. They made a formidable team. What he hoped she didn't know, was how hopelessly in love with her he was. When they're assigned to teach Squad Seven, they know its to monitor Sasuke Uchiha; and Kakashi hopes if the day ever comes when they must face their greatest enemy, he hopes Erina won't break. Is he enough?
1. Survival Test

Erina walked with Kakashi towards the room where the three new Genin were waiting for their new sensei.

"You know you're already late." She said with a bored tone.

"It's called being fashionably late, thank you very much." He responded with a smile under his mask.

"Mhmm, I can't wait to see what the kids will say to that."

"Do you remember the plan?" he asked, slowing his pace to turn towards her and look down; she was half a foot shorter than him.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll give them the bell test and I'll introduce myself afterwards."

"_If_ they pass."

"I wouldn't put it past them, Kakashi. Your students are Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. And that Sakura Haruno girl had the second — best scores of the entire class, second only to Sasuke. They may surprise you."

"You know the goal of the test is not to see if they can actually obtain the bells."

She smiled and walked a step closer towards him, "Yes, I remember well."

He returned her smile, his memories filling with nostalgia.

She shoved him forward the last few feet to around the corner their new students were waiting in a room for him. "Now hurry up, they must be getting impatient."

He walked away, not turning around, knowing he would catch up with her later. She followed him slowly towards the partially open door, leaning against the wall to listen to their conversations and learn of their skills.

Kakashi placed his hand on the partially open door, and just when he was about to open it all the way, he stopped.

She raised an eyebrow in curiosity. What had happened? He stood frozen for a moment, his head only peeking through the door and not saying a word. She heard something hit the floor.

"Hahahah! I totally got him! He fell for it!" she heard a boys voice ring out through the slight crack while Kakashi stood there for another moment.

"I'm sorry sensei, I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen to me! I'd never do anything like that." A young female voice rang out through the door next.

Kakashi leaned down and picked up whatever had hit him on the head.

"Hmm… how can I put this?" his voice was low and unimpressed.

She could just imagine him tilting his head back with his fingers along his jawline, pretending to be in deep thought, trying to make the students think he hadn't been fooled.

_I think I'm going to like these kids._ She smiled to herself.

"My first impression of this group… you're a bunch of idiots." He said slowly to them, no doubt trying to bring them down a few notches from their high of recently graduating the program.

_Easy there, Kakashi. You don't want to terrify them just yet._

From there, he started to lead the students out the door and onto a terrace a few hallways down. She stayed where she was, just closing her eyes and pretending like she belonged there. They had no idea who she was, and Kakashi was easily able to ignore her presence, an act they had mastered long ago since they decided to become mission partners.

She opened her eyes when Sasuke passed, and they locked gazes for a moment. She knew he could sense her power, felt her chakra seeping through him, trying to analyze him. It was a natural occurrence; one she really couldn't control. But he didn't feel threatened by her, he continued to follow his new instructor.

She followed them out shortly after, hiding underneath the railing on a roof and absorbing some sun. She had a feeling this would be the last time she got to relax for a while.

Kakashi began to speak, with an incredibly bored tone, sitting on the railing with his arms crossed and in a relaxed, uninterested position.

_Can you at least pretend you want to be here, moron?_

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves. One at a time."

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura's voice rang out in repeating his words. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that." Kakashi answered.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first, I mean before we talk about ourselves, so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto suggested.

"Me?"

_Good luck, kids._ She nearly laughed at the crap Kakashi was about to try to pull.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake, things I like and things I hate… mhmm, I don't feel like telling you that… my dreams for the future… never really thought about it… as for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

"That was totally useless, all he really told us was his name."

_You're such a dork, Kakashi._

"Okay, your turn. You on the right, you first."

"Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I _really _like the instant ramen Iruka sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is: to be the greatest Hokage. Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important." The emotion in Naruto's voice made Erina think he genuinely believed he could accomplish this dream. She smiled slightly.

"All right. Next." Kakashi said.

"I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like…. Uh, I mean the _person_ I like is… uh… my hobby is uh… my dream for the future…" Erina heard Sakura giggle slightly.

_This must be a joke… it'll be a miracle if they can even function together with her swooning over the Uchiha… although, it is a family trait. The Uchiha men are extremely physically attractive specifically to continue their line…_

"And… what do you hate?" Kakashi asked her.

She wasted no time in answering, "Naruto!"

_Ouch… that was harsh._

"Last one."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha… I _hate_ a lot of things… and I don't particularly like anything… what I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality… I'm going to restore my clan… and destroy a certain someone…"

Silence followed Sasuke's 'introduction'.

Kakashi leaned backwards and looked down to meet Erina's eyes, a silent message passing between them. They each nodded once to each other slightly, preparing for the future that was sure to come from the youngest Uchiha.

He returned his attention to the students, "Good. You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto perked up immediately, "What kind of mission are we going to have?"

Kakashi responded with an ominous tone, "It's a task that the four of us will do together."

_At least you remembered to say four and not five. Good thing we rehearsed._

"What, what, what, what?"

"A survival exercise."

"Huh? Survival exercise?"

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice. We already did this stuff at the academy, that's how we got here."

_Not like this, you haven't…_

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi said, voicing Erina's thoughts.

"So, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked, a little afraid.

Kakashi laughed, just bordering on menacing. Erina rolled her eyes at his dramatic flares.

"Hey, that's a legitimate question, what's so funny?"

"Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." He kept laughing. "Of the twenty – seven graduates who just came here, only nine will actually be accepted as Genin, the other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make – it – or – break – it – pass – fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty – six percent," Kakashi hid his face partially with his hand, trying to be ominous.

_Be careful, Kakashi. If they do pass, they're going to find out what a real dork you are._

"See? Didn't I tell you; you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?"

"Oh, that? That was just to select candidates who might become Genin… or not."

"What?!" Naruto cried out.

"That's how it is." Kakashi said simply. "I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five A.M. and bring your ninja gear." He directed.

The kids didn't say anything in return, most likely too stunned to believe they were being tested again so shortly after proving what they had already learned at the academy and not fully understanding why the academy was formatted this way.

Kakashi stood and turned his back to them, catching Erina's eye again. "That's it, you're dismissed." He said with a wave of his hand. "Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else… you'll puke." He jumped away with that final warning and disappeared into a shop down below.

Erina gave one last look up towards the kids, even though she couldn't see them. She had faith they could do it, they just had to use their heads.

She jumped after Kakashi, into the book store and quickly found him in the romance aisle.

"You're such a drama queen." She said, taking the book out of his hand he was looking over.

"Hey — " he tried to reach the book she had stolen and returned to the shelf.

"You already have three you haven't read, finish those than you can buy more, you hoarder."

"Hoarding has to include multiple things, this is more of an –"

"Obsession?" she cut him off.

He sighed and turned away from the books, looking ahead into nothing.

"Think they can do it?" he asked, curious of her opinion.

"Yeah, with the proper guidance and training, I think they could surprise a lot of people." She nodded, starting to walk towards their apartment.

"If they do pass, we'll have to keep an eye on the Uchiha" he said quietly.

She nodded again in agreement, tightening her fist in anger as well.

"It won't happen for a while, Sandā." He whispered so only she could hear.

She smiled, "You haven't called me that in a while."

"If we're going to be working on missions regularly together again, we need to ensure your identity is kept a secret." He eyed her carefully, watching as she started to walk into a grocery store. He waited, familiar with their routine. He always carried the grocery bags.

When she walked out, she only handed one to him and carried the other.

"Aren't you going to give me both the bags?"

She shook her head, "Now that we'll be around children, we need to be careful of the message we send out to them."

"Which would be?"

"That we're not involved. Everyone our age knows what we are, but the kids won't understand our situation unless we explain it to them. And there's no point explaining it until they pass this test, and they may not pass it."

"Hmm… I guess you have a point." They continued to walk together to their apartment.

It wasn't an overly huge apartment, just the basic one room, kitchen and bathroom with a small living room for a limited number of guests.

Kakashi set the one grocery bag on the kitchen table and pulled his mask down, unzipping his Jōnin jacket and hanging it up. Erina started to chop the spinach and cook the pasta for their dinner. This was their comfortable routine, he enjoyed it very much… sometimes he did want more, though.

They had grown up together, achieving the highest scores in their class, matching each other perfectly, reading each other's thoughts before the other could accomplish any action. For a moment, they considered each other rivals in a healthy way, much like him and Guy. But their sensei at the time knocked some sense into their heads and made them realize what a great team they made.

Erina had the ability to not only sense chakra – like most ninja could – but she could also immediately identify the emotion behind the chakra, without even having to lay eyes on the person. That way, they would know if anyone was a threat or an ally that may be approaching. Whether it was genuinely hostile or someone acting out of desperation.

She was also born with a hereditary chemical in her brain: it was called 'mirror – touch synesthesia'. She quite literally acted as a mirror to whomever she was facing directly. If he were to cut himself with a knife while she was watching, she would feel the pain. If he were to look her in the eyes and let his romantic feelings for her show in any way, she would be able to read the invisible movements his facial expression reflected, whether it was eyes dilating, cheeks slightly blushing, or his heart beat increasing. She could often diagnose the emotion that someone felt before they even had time to register it themselves.

It proved to be handy and lifesaving at times. But it also took a huge toll on her. When they encountered ninja that were intent on killing, she could feel their hatred as if it were her own. Luckily, she was able to resist the urges she may otherwise feel if she didn't grow up with this since her birth. But it never failed, whenever they would return home from a mission where she had to face someone like that, she would lock herself up in her apartment for three days and not eat, drink, socialize or anything. It was at that point; he had asked her to move in with him when they were eighteen. He couldn't stand knowing she was in so much pain when he could be there to comfort her. She was his partner, in many ways. He cared for her. He realized he was in love with her when they were fourteen, but luckily by then, he had mastered the ability to hide his emotions from her, and his mask helped that greatly.

But whenever they would return from a mission that was hard for her, she would still lock herself up in their bedroom, not eat or sleep for seventy – two hours, and just scream. He never knew what she did during that time until the first mission they had returned from and were living together. She didn't say a word, just walked into the bed room and started screaming, crying, letting out all of the hatred that she had felt from the ninja they were forced to fight then kill.

He felt such a compulsion that first night when they were nineteen, the first night he saw her hurt, scared, tortured. The screams she released tore his soul apart, as he watched her for just that split second while she was on the floor, gripping her head, the tears streaming down her face. He only had to meet her eyes for a moment. She was about to apologize, he could tell. He wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't allow her to apologize for who she was, for something that she was born with and couldn't control. He fell to his knees and held her tightly as she screamed into his chest. He didn't say a word. Just held her there, became her rock as she was so often his. To see her fall apart in his arms, shatter so thoroughly, knowing this is what she had been going through all her life… it made him sick. He wanted to protect her, but the one thing he couldn't protect her from was herself, and unfortunately, that's what this was.

Her mind was so unique, so special and that could be both a blessing and a curse. It was that first night when he discovered what she battled after every mission, that he made a vow to her, that his life belonged to her, and her life belonged to him. No one could ever touch their existence, so long as the other was alive. They were a team, partners. They always had been. She was too kind a soul for this job, but it was what she wanted, what she was good at. He wasn't stupid enough to not admit that he would have died long ago if it hadn't been for her.

They weren't asked to go on many life — threatening missions any more, since they proved useful as Jōnin, and with the new graduates, they were most likely going to become their teachers. But he often feared their names being announced for an S ranked mission, one where they would have to inevitably kill someone, and she would have to once again harbor that hatred. It was only a few months ago that they were last called for a mission like that. And each and every time, it stuck with him. The three nights and days that she spent screaming into his chest, crying until she couldn't breathe, gasping for air, choking, wishing for death. Anything to release her from this torment that she was born with. He would often tell her there was no way he would ever allow anything like that to happen. And if she needed to, she could use him as her release. She needed to get the hatred out. She would hit his chest, weakly and angrily, but he was able to stand there and take it as long as she needed him. Three days she would scream, cry, drift in and out of sleep, wake up screaming again, trying to pull the hatred out of her head like it was a physical manifestation rather than an emotional one her brain created as a way to defend itself from enemies.

Finally, after the seventy – two hours were up, she would fall into the deepest sleep he had seen, their bed would be warm all night from her natural heat, his arms wrapped around her protectively. He would always keep her safe. He at least owed her that much.

The first time she woke up in his arms, she was confused and questioned him about his feelings, but he was able to fool her and not reveal his emotions. That also meant every time she had to fall apart, not only could he be there the way she needed him to be, but he could hold her for a day and a half. Feel her soft breathing while she slept in his arms. Feel her turn around in her unconsciousness, her face now in his bare chest, breathing deeply, her hands slightly covering her face. She always slept the same. So innocent and open. He would always sneak in a kiss to her forehead to wish her good dreams. Whenever he woke, he was surrounded by her scent, his face often would be buried in her neck, her hair partially covering his chin. He often woke before her. She would only move when she was beginning to wake. He would just hold her for as long as he could, wrapping his arms around her even tighter and allowing his face to hide in her neck, even though he was hungry and wanted to stretch, he would always hold her tightly against him while she slept, watch her now calm face, trace her soft skin sometimes. He may have stolen many touches in the past, but he could never steal the one thing he wanted most of all. He wanted to feel her lips on his. Taste her, know her in such an intimate way, like he never had before.

"Kakashi?" her slightly raised voice startled him out of his memories.

"Huh?" he turned, wondering what she needed.

"Could you set the table?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah." He smiled, walking over to the cupboards to grab their plates and cutlery, bringing small cups to fill with their sake. They didn't drink often, but one drink with dinner every now and then was nice.

When he had the table set, he walked to the couch and sat down with his elbows on his knees, watching her, transfixed.

She often wore tight jeans that came up to just barely past her hips, a thin gold chain acted as her belt. She sometimes wore it around her waist if she was bored with it. Almost everything she wore was deep blood red, except for her pants. 'A reminder of the lives she's taken' she would always say. As if she thought she should be punished for what she did.

She wore a small, red tight long — sleeved jack that she only ever zipped up to just underneath her breasts, small pockets there in case she needed to store some vials filled with her specialty poison. Similar fingerless gloves were on her hands, but where his had metal on the top of his hand, hers didn't. She felt it restricted her movements too much. Peeking out from right under where the jacket ended, was a red jewel that graced her naval, often swinging back and forth, always distracting him and forcing his gaze on her toned, tight stomach. She would always try to out train him when they were children.

Underneath her jacket, she wore a slightly darker red bra that extended down to above her waist. Not quite revealing as much as a regular bra would, but just enough to force your imagination to wander uncontrollably. There was a diamond right in the center of her breasts, and she wore multiple necklaces to cover her chest. Most of them held a significant meaning; her crescent moon, to remember her first mission as a Jōnin; a black crystal, to recognize how dark the world could be; a pure white crystal to remind her how good people could be; and his personal favorite, a gold chain with the letter 'K' on it. When he had first noticed the small necklace when they were eighteen, he asked her who it represented, not wanting to jump to the conclusion that it may be for him. She smiled and said 'K represents Kakashi, because I would be dead long ago without you' his heart swooned that day; but she also wore a chain decorated with multiple kunai tipped with the deadliest poison known to ninja. One scratch, and you would be dead within thirty seconds.

Her dark hair was down to her waist, sometimes concealed by her loose hood she would wear. He had made her a special mask when they were nineteen, when she had nearly been killed by the same poison she had created. A rogue ninja had gotten hold of one her kunai and attacked her with it, but rather than simply cutting her, they had been able to hold it in front of her face, forcing her to breathe in the toxic fumes, causing her so much more agony and the death that much slower. He decided then that he would make her a mask to conceal her face much in the same way his did, and he created it to be able to block out any poison that may be near her. He also decorated it with small crosses near her mouth, also coated in a special remedy of her own making that acted as a backup, in case anyone was able to create an even stronger poison. This way, she could also remove one of the crosses and give it to someone else to help heal them.

Some people thought it was ridiculous she wore nearly all red, but what they didn't know was that it was a diversion technique they used. She would act as the bait, and alert him to anything going on, that way, he could surprise whomever may be targeting them.

"Kakashi, what's going on with you?" she asked, kneeling between his legs.

He gasped, startled by her position.

"Are you okay?" she stood, and walked towards their cabinet filled with different kinds of sake.

"Yeah, just thinking a lot." He took a deep breath and got control of his thoughts, standing to follow her to the small table.

She poured the sake and served their dinner, one of his favorite meals she made. Steak and tuna on top of pasta with cooked spinach and butter to top it off. She was a damn fine cook.

"Thank you, Erina." He smiled and started eating.

"You don't have to thank me every time I cook us dinner, Kashi." She smiled back, taking smaller bites of her dinner.

"Yes, I do. If I don't, you'll yell at me." He teased.

"I only yell at you when you buy multiple Icha Icha books when you haven't even finished reading all the ones you have." She teased back.

"I can't help it, they're so good."

She rolled her eyes, "Why don't you read something educational? Something that will teach you new things." She took a sip of her sake.

"Because I don't want to?" he responded, knowing it was a lame answer.

She laughed and continued with her meal, not bothering to continue the subject.

"I'm probably going to head to bed after dinner, since we have a _ridiculously_ early morning tomorrow." She glared at him.

He sighed, "I forgot about that. I'm not looking forward to it."

"Then why did you set that time?"

"To make sure they can fight through exhaustion." He finished his meal and crossed his legs under the table, reclining in his seat and placing his hands behind his head.

"You're unbelievable sometimes. You know you're going to be late."

"Will not."

"Will to."

"Nuh uh." He poked her knee with his foot.

"What are you, eight?" she laughed and lightly kicked him back.

"Yes, but I read at a ten – year – old level." He smiled while she laughed at his joke.

She sighed, placing her feet firmly on the floor to stand and clear the table, their meal finished and the sake gone.

He stood and removed his shirt that his mask was connected to, now only wearing his pants and kicked his shoes off, settling down on the couch. She finished washing the dishes and grabbed one of her books, sitting on the opposite end of the couch to prop her feet up on his lap. He started to absent mindedly massage her feet, while she quickly became engrossed in her book on healing plants and remedies. He leaned his head back on the sofa, and started to drift.

"Kakashi?" she whispered and woke him gently, tracing her finger down from between his eyebrows to down his nose.

"Mhmm?" he didn't open his eyes.

"It's past eleven, we should go to bed."

He stretched and she grabbed his hand, lifting him gently from the sofa. They walked towards their room and she gently closed the door, while he removed his pants and put on a pair of sweats. He tossed her his favorite shirt and she quickly removed her clothing and put it on. It hung down to her knees, not revealing anything new compared to what she wore every day.

She turned the lamp off and he crawled onto the bed to pull the covers back, waiting for her to tie her hair up in a high pony tail and join him in the sheets. He opened his arms and she happily wrapped her arms around his waist, while his pulled her tight to his chest and he allowed his head to rest on top of hers. He sighed, happy for bed.

"If you're late tomorrow, you're making dinner for the next week." She said, challenging him.

"Shh, I'm asleep." He whispered and smiled while she laughed.

She adjusted her position a couple of times, before she became comfortable, one of her legs entwined with his and his shirt gaping open at the neck to reveal her soft skin. Her breathing was slow and even, calm. He knew she was asleep and he gently placed his face between her neck and shoulder, breathing her in.

This was enough. For now, he was happy to just hold her like this every night.

* * *

"I'll meet you at the training site, I'm grabbing breakfast with Kurenai." She said from her standing position in the bathroom.

"Mhmm…" he didn't want to wake up yet. It was still too early. He missed her warmth. He rolled over and greedily hogged all the blankets, throwing the pillows around to cover his head from the harsh light of the lamp.

He heard the shower start and wondered if he should take one after she was finished.

_Too tired…_ he thought. He could take one later.

She finished quickly, brushing her hair and getting dressed. She walked over to his hidden form beneath the blankets and pillows.

"Don't be late." She said in a calm tone.

He didn't respond, she waited for a moment then heard his snoring.

She rolled her eyes and pulled the blankets off him to reveal his bare chest and sweats that had ridden down his hips, revealing delicious defined abs and strong hips.

He didn't budge.

"Fine." She said quietly, placing her knees on the bed to pull away all the pillows and expose his eyes to the light again.

"What?" he groaned, covering his face to try and hide.

"I'm leaving, don't you dare be late. Your breakfast is in the oven keeping warm, you better eat before you show." She said with a strict tone.

"Yes, _mom_." He said with obvious attitude.

She gripped a pillow and hit him in the face with it, somewhat hard to jolt him more awake.

"I'll see you later." She walked out the door and he leaned over the mattress to turn the light off and bring the covers and pillows back up to hide himself.

He missed her warmth all over again and wished she had stayed until they had to leave to meet with the students.

He drifted again, thinking of their past…

After her breakfast with Kurenai, she walked towards the training site. She thought it odd that Kakashi had chosen this particular site, considering the memorial that was there.

She chose the tree she would watch the students from, one far enough away that they had many other choices to hide and wouldn't be able to spot her easily. She saw the three students lazily walk towards the training ground, Naruto definitely the most tired of all of them. Sakura was slightly slowed down and Sasuke was somewhat the same, except for dark circles under his eyes.

"Get ready, kids… use your heads." She whispered to herself.

Five minutes went by… ten… fifteen… forty – five… one hour…

"Kakashi, you're making dinner for the next month." She mumbled, irritated that she even woke him up before she left and made him breakfast to ensure he wouldn't be late.

Another hour passed… another four hours… until she finally felt his chakra reading and rolled her eyes. He was six hours late; it was now eleven in the morning.

"Morning everyone." He said, still tired, not bothered at all by the fact that he had kept everyone waiting for six hours. "Ready for your first day?" he asked with a casual wave.

"Hey! You're late!" Sakura and Naruto yelled at him, with accusing pointed fingers.

She smiled and lightly laughed, enjoying the fact that they called him on his crap.

"Well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." He said lamely.

_Dork._ Erina thought.

Sasuke watched, unimpressed with his arms crossed, while Sakura and Naruto looked almost ready to throttle him.

"Well…" he cleared his throat. "Let's get started."

He walked towards a stump sticking from the ground, and placed a timer and pushed the top button.

"It's set for noon."

The students watched him, curious.

"Your assignment is very simple," he pulled out the two small bells and held them up, "you just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it." He made the bells jingle somewhat mockingly. "If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch."

"Ah!" Naruto seemed terrified.

"You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you." He said with a small smile underneath his mask.

The kids looked traumatized already, and starving. They figured it out that Kakashi had told them to not eat their breakfast so it would be so much more difficult for them.

_But you guys are also missing the fact that he told you not to eat to make sure you're even more motivated to get the bells._

"Wait a minute, there's three of us. How come there's only two bells?" Sakura asked with genuine curiosity.

_She's quick._ Erina approved with a nod.

"So that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post, and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission."

_Maybe try to not sound like a complete sadist, Kashi._ Erina shook her head, wondering where Kakashi got his dramatic flair from. He sure didn't learn it from her.

"That one goes back to the academy." He continued, swinging the bells teasingly.

The kids stared at him, some with anger, others with analytical gazes.

"Then again, all three of you could flunk out, too. You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells." He finished, tossing the bells into his hand and making a fist.

"Those weapons are too dangerous, sensei!" Sakura argued.

Naruto laughed, "Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser."

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links, you can safely ignore them, lowest scores, losers."

Erina shook her head again at Kakashi's comment.

"When I say start, you can begin." Kakashi watched them carefully.

Naruto growled in irritation, and pulled out a kunai and twirled it quickly in his fingers, running directly at Kakashi. No doubt his comment setting Naruto off.

It happened too quickly for them to process, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto, his left hand on his head, gipping just tight enough so Naruto couldn't get away, his right hand gripping the hand Naruto held the kunai in and had it twisted around to have the weapon aimed directly at the back of Naruto's head.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet." Kakashi said in a calm, mocking tone.

Sakura and Sasuke stared between them in disbelief. They backed away, trying to not anger their sensei since he proved what he can do with hardly any effort.

Naruto was able to get free of Kakashi's grip.

"But you came at me with the full intention of destroying me, so… how can I say this?... I'm actually starting to like you guys."

She saw the blush start to creep up the kid's cheeks, even Sasuke's. She smiled, happy Kakashi was starting to take a genuine interest in their students.

"Get ready… and… start." Kakashi gave the order and the three students took off in different directions.

The students were granted a few minutes to hide, until Kakashi started speaking again.

"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements, and hide effectively…" he paused looking around. "Well they understand that much. They've hidden well." Kakashi stood in the middle of the clearing, mostly muttering to himself.

_Except for one…_Erina thought as she watched Naruto stand in front of Kakashi, arms crossed and ready to fight.

"You and me, right now! Fair and square! Let's go!"

Kakashi stared at Naruto, completely surprised at his stupidity. "You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit… weird." He said with an unimpressed look in his eye.

"Oh yeah, the only thing weird here is your haircut." Naruto fired back in anger.

Erina giggled, telling herself she would have to be sure to remember that joke for later.

Naruto started running to Kakashi, angry shouts coming from him.

Kakashi watched in boredom, and reached a hand into his bag on his hip, pausing for a moment.

Naruto saw this, and jumped back when he was within three feet of his sensei, expecting an attack.

Kakashi leaned his head back slightly, increasing his voice to project to wherever Sasuke and Sakura were.

"Shinobi battle techniques, part one. Taijutsu. The physical part." Kakashi started to remove his hand from the bag, bringing out what he was searching for.

Erina leaned forward, eager to hear how Kakashi instructed them, taught them.

He pulled his hand out completely and brought out the Icha Icha book he was currently reading.

Erina sighed in partial defeat until she got a closer look.

_That's one of the books he was looking at in the store. That jackass, he went there this morning to buy the new books he didn't have. Ugh, he's going to be making breakfast and dinner for a month._ She rolled her eyes and ignored the partial irritation at her mission partner, trying to stay focused on what was happening.

"What are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi said, bored again. He stood with his hand in his pocket and the other holding the book up to his face, completely uninterested.

"What – why are you reading that book?" Naruto asked, unsure he understood what was happening.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story, of course." Kakashi didn't raise his eyes away from the page as he explained himself with the dumbest excuse she had ever heard. "Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever." Kakashi taunted Naruto.

She could tell by how much Kakashi was teasing his student that he already wished this was over, just wanting to go back to the apartment and read.

_I should try to get back before him and hide all his damn books._

Naruto grew angry again, running at Kakashi, "I'm going to crush you!" he went for a punch aimed at the back of Kakashi's head, but Kakashi easily blocked it with his free hand and Naruto immediately responded with an attempted kick to Kakashi's stomach – which Kakashi ducked out of the way from, his face still completely hidden behind the book.

Naruto didn't stop, he turned around and thought for sure he had his sensei, bringing his fist up for a punch straight to Kakashi's face. Even if Kakashi stood, Naruto would at least be able to hit his stomach.

"Now you're mine!" he threw his fist in front of him… only to hit empty air. He paused, completely confused by what happened.

Kakashi materialized behind him, a hand sign indicating the teleportation Jutsu and his book now closed, still crouching down.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." He said calmly to Naruto,

Sakura perked up from her hiding place and called out to her team mate, "Naruto, get out of there quick, he's going to destroy you!" Naruto looked over to her in confusion.

"Too late." Kakashi said quietly, while he quickly started to stand up and raise his fingers towards Naruto… who was still facing with his back to his sensei.

"Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu." Kakashi raised his fingers quickly and powerfully, to land right between his students' legs. He forced Naruto up into the air with the force of his 'attack', pushing him away to land in the water. "A thousand years of death!"

_Really?... is that actually the reason you want to be known as The Copy Ninja? You idiot._

Kakashi watched as Naruto landed in the water, and started to leaf through his book again. "Okay. Where was I?" he stuck his face in between the pages again, and continued where he had left off.

She watched the water, waiting for Naruto to make his move. The other students kept hidden, aside from Sakura who must have been continuing to stay in her now reveled hidden spot because it was close to Sasuke.

The water shifted and two shuriken came at Kakashi with speed, but he didn't budge, he simply lifted his free hand and caught them, while they continued to twirl on his fingers.

Naruto began to climb free from the water, gasping and coughing, while Kakashi just stood towering over him, still reading, a completely bored look on his face.

"What are you doing now?" he nearly groaned. "You know you won't get lunch unless you take a bell by noon."

"I know, I know, you told us already!" Naruto yelled back.

"You look pretty wobbly for someone who's going to surpass the Hokage."

Naruto's stomach growled, "You told us not to eat breakfast, how can I fight when I'm starving to death!"

Kakashi started to walk away, while Naruto continued to shout, "So you caught me off guard! That's all it was! Believe it!"

Seven more Naruto's emerged from the water and aimed for his sensei.

Kakashi turned around with slight interest.

_Impressive, he's mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu_. Erina thought to herself.

"You're overconfident, sensei! That's why you weren't ready for a Shadow Clone attack! My best Jutsu." Naruto ran at Kakashi with all his might.

"Hmm…" Kakashi turned and started to speak to himself. "It looks like the stories are true, he can create Shadow Clones. It's a forbidden skill, and he defeated Mizuki with it." Kakashi had now returned his book to his pouch, Naruto gaining his full attention. "Great technique, but I don't think you can maintain it for very long. You talk like you're the best, Naruto. But you're still the worst student. You can't beat me with this Jutsu." Kakashi explained, bored.

Erina smiled while she watched Naruto sneak up on Kakashi and latch on to his back while the clones continued to run at him.

Naruto laughed, thinking he had won the challenge. "Didn't you say don't let your enemies get behind you? Good advice sensei." The clones began to grab onto whatever body part of Kakashi's they could, making him immobile. One of the clones jumped into the air and aimed for an attack, "This is for nailing me in the butt earlier! You're mine and so are those bells!" the clone pulled a fist back and aimed for Kakashi's face… only to hit himself instead. He only faltered for a moment, then started rambling. "It's you, you're Kakashi sensei, aren't you!" he pointed an accusing finger towards the clone, "You transformed into me using a Jutsu!" all the Naruto's started fighting amongst themselves, hitting and kicking each other.

_You have to give him credit for determination…_ Erina thought.

All the clones fighting amongst themselves started yelling at the real Naruto to undo the Jutsu, thinking there would then only be two Naruto's left, and he would be able to easily tell which one was Kakashi. They all disappeared, only leaving Naruto behind, though.

Naruto took a moment to collect his thoughts, until something shiny caught his eye. He looked down and saw a bell, waiting near a tree.

"A bell? I must have got to him with my attack! He dropped a bell!" Naruto laughed as he bent over to pick it up, until a rope grabbed hold of his feet and propelled him up to the tree, swinging him back and forth. "Hey!"

Naruto continued to try to reach for the bell from the tree, nowhere near accomplishing his task.

Kakashi appeared and sighed, leaning down to pick up the bell and watch Naruto dangle helplessly. "Think before you use a Jutsu. Or else your opponent might use it against you." Kakashi stood and Naruto let out an exasperated groan. He flipped the bells up into the air to catch them with a smile, "Oh and also, if the bait is obvious… don't take it." Naruto grew angrier. "A ninja must see through deception."

Naruto began to flail his arms, shouting at his sensei, "I get it!"

Kakashi turned towards Naruto. "I'm telling you this because you _don't_ get it. You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it… get it." Kakashi stood with a hand on his hip, "Won't you ever learn." From behind him, multiple shuriken and kunai came at him in a rotation pattern to hit him from the side. "Uhn!" he cried out as the weapons hit him and took him down, his body now falling to the dirt and blood pouring from the wounds.

"Are you out of your mind Sasuke, you went too far!" Naruto shouted to where the weapons had emerged from, watching as his sensei fell.

But before he could hit the ground, smoke formed around his body and revealed a stump that had the weapons embedded in it.

_Was the blood really necessary?_

Kakashi had a clone waiting out in the open, reading his book, while Sakura ran to catch up to Sasuke who knew he had to move quick in order to compensate for revealing his position. Erina watched as Kakashi followed the young girl, as she came to a halt and saw the clone, believing it was actually him.

Erina didn't hear what Kakashi had said, but the next thing she knew, Sakura was screaming as she turned around and saw the real Kakashi.

Naruto in the meantime, was basically fuming at Kakashi's 'lessons'.

"A ninja must see through deception," Naruto said making a mockery of Kakashi's voice, "Yeah, yeah, how am I supposed to do that?" Naruto pulled himself up and cut the rope, "Well I'm sure not falling for any more of his traps." He freed his legs and fell to the ground with a gentle thud, smiling to himself… only to be caught in another one of Kakashi's traps. A second rope gripped Naruto's foot and brought him up. Naruto shouted in anger, "I fell for it again!"

Erina switched her attention to where Kakashi and Sakura were, while Kakashi made a Jutsu signal that brought Sakura under a spell, to make her see whatever he wanted. He disappeared in the process, leaving her alone in the opening to hide in a tree.

Sakura came to a moment later, "Oh my… someone there… I think I felt something what was it?" she whipped her head around frantically, trying to understand what had happened.

"…Sakura…" a weak voice could barely be heard from behind a tree and Sakura whipped around, shouting Sasuke's name with happiness. Until she saw Sasuke's form emerge, on his knees, covered in kunai and shuriken, bleeding profusely. "S—Sakura… help me… please help me…" she stared at Sasuke, terrified.

She screamed and fainted, the sight too much for her.

Erina stood on the branch and jumped over to where Kakashi was, his eyes barely processing what was happening. She stood beside him while he knelt on the thick branch, her arms crossed in slight irritation.

"I think I over did it a bit…" Kakashi said.

"You think?" she responded, watching as he turned a page.

"But she's gotta learn to see through these things."

"That's all well and fine, but maybe don't traumatize them into a damn coma before their training is even finished." She said jumping up higher onto the tree to be closer to the test. Now that the students were distracted with their training, they wouldn't think to look for an extra person.

"Shinobi battle skill number two. The Illusion Jutsu, Sakura studied it in class, but she still couldn't see it coming." He stood and the bells rang almost mockingly to Sasuke.

Kakashi jumped away a few feet and landed against a tree trunk behind Sasuke, who sensed his presence.

"I'm not like Sakura and Naruto." He simply said, somewhat angry.

"Say that after you get one of these bells… my Sasuke." Kakashi imitated Sakura's voice and laughed to himself, standing upright away from the tree, still holding the book as he walked towards the Uchiha.

They studied each other a moment, until Sasuke threw some weapons at his sensei, Kakashi easily dodging them. "There's no point using normal attacks…" Kakashi landed on the ground while Erina saw Sasuke smile while he threw a kunai up into the air and cut a rope.

"A trap?" Kakashi said, interested.

He slowed his feet down, gripping the dirt beneath him and jumped out of the way as more weapons cascaded towards him, as he jumped away just in time and they hit a tree trunk. Sasuke materialized behind him, trying to catch Kakashi off guard, and aimed a kick at Kakashi's head. Kakashi blocked it, but was surprised the young student had thought up such a trap for a simple challenge. Kakashi then gripped Sasuke's foot, in response, Sasuke brought his fist down to Kakashi's head, but his sensei also gripped his fist, blocking that attack as well, which then made the Uchiha twist his body around to try to bash his knee into Kakashi's head, which Kakashi was also able to easily block by bringing his arm that gripped Sasuke's hand up to stop any threat Sasuke's leg caused.

Erina was impressed at Sasuke's skills. He didn't stop after just one attempted blow.

The position that Kakashi had put Sasuke in gave Sasuke the perfect angle to reach for one of the bells hanging from Kakashi's hip, startling Kakashi to jump away.

_This kid…_ Kakashi thought, _he's fierce… I won't be able to read Make Out Paradise now…_

Kakashi stood a healthy distance away, analyzing his opponent.

Erina turned her attention to Sakura when she heard the feminine voice, crying out for Sasuke in fear for his life.

She turned her head the other way and saw Naruto still hanging by the rope in the tree, his arms crossed and contemplating his next move. She saw then that his attention was captured by something. He started laughing.

"Well, you are different from the other two, I'll grant you that." Kakashi's voice brought Erina's attention back to the two standing in the clearing.

Sasuke grunted with anger, and started to make hand signs.

When he stopped, Erina gasped.

_He shouldn't be old enough for that Jutsu._ She thought to herself, hoping Kakashi was ready for what was coming.

Sasuke opened his mouth and breathed fire, aiming for where Kakashi was. He couldn't see, but Kakashi had already disappeared.

It was nearing noon, and Erina knew that Kakashi was going to start wrapping the training up.

Sasuke turned around, looking for his teacher, wondering where he had disappeared to.

"Where?" Kakashi's muffled voice rang out through the earth beneath Sasuke's feet as his hand reached up from the dirt and gripped Sasuke's foot. "I'm where you least expect me." Kakashi yanked Sasuke down into the earth and effectively trapped him there, only the students head sitting above the dirt.

Kakashi leaned down to speak to Sasuke, "Right under your feet. Earth style, Head Hunter Jutsu." Sasuke started to grunt in response. "Can't move, huh? That was Ninjutsu, the third shinobi battle skill. You have talent and you were right, you are different from the others, but… different isn't always better." Kakashi stood and turned away from the Uchiha, taking out his book again. "They say the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down."

"Great." Sasuke muttered to himself, extremely angry to be stuck in a position such as that.

Kakashi walked away, confident the training was almost over.

Erina watched his form, until he felt her eyes on him and he looked up to what she was trying to tell him.

She met his eyes and jerked her head towards the clearing where the memorial was, where Naruto had last been caught.

He nodded back, understanding what she was trying to tell him. He jumped away to find Naruto sitting on the memorial site, where the lunch boxes Erina had prepared for them were sitting.

Erina followed Kakashi, since there was only minutes left, she figured it was a good time to gather near everyone. Things weren't looking good for any of the students.

Naruto laughed to himself, "Sensei told us that if we don't get a bell, then we don't get any lunch, but if I eat my lunch now, then there's nothing he can do. It's chow time!" Naruto got ready to dig into the food, while Erina stopped on a branch and jumped down to the ground softly, as Kakashi sat atop the memorial site and startled Naruto, "Hi there." He peered down at Naruto.

Naruto immediately started to try to save face, "I was just joking sensei."

"Nice try." Kakashi nearly smiled.

A few minutes later, the alarm rang, and it was over.

Kakashi had Naruto tied to the middle post, while Sasuke and Sakura were sitting beside him on the ground, the lunch boxes in front of them.

Their stomachs growled so loudly, Kakashi could hear them. "Uh oh, stomach's growling, huh? That's too bad. Oh, by the way, about this exercise… well, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy."

Erina leaned forward in curiosity, unsure what Kakashi was doing.

Naruto began to rejoice, while Sakura asked "What? I passed? But all I did was faint and fall over. Do you get points for that?"

Sasuke on the other hand, waited, grunting in his understanding that there was more to the story.

"Yes… all three of you… are being dropped from the program. Permanently." Kakashi said with a deadly even tone, standing away from them with his hands in his pockets.

They all gasped.

_Kakashi, what are you doing?_ Erina began to worry, wondering what the hell would possess Kakashi to expel all three students when they didn't do anything wrong, and Sasuke even touched one of the bells, caught Kakashi completely off guard.

"Drop us from the program? That means we can never become ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells, we'd be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that?" Naruto began trying to free himself from his restraints, while Sakura began to grow nervous, and Sasuke waited patiently to understand what was happening.

"Because you don't think like ninja. You think like little kids. Like brats."

Sasuke winced at the comment, having reached his edge and made a lunge for Kakashi, reaching for a kunai.

Kakashi just waited, and made his move when Sasuke was close enough. Sasuke was now on the ground, one arm behind his back while Kakashi sat on him, one of his feet on Sasuke's head.

"You think it's all about you." Kakashi said with minor anger, while Sasuke grunted from the pain.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja." Kakashi had turned his attention to the other two students now. "You think it's a game, huh?" he asked, trying to make them understand what the point of this lesson was. "Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?"

"I don't know what you mean." Sakura said, unsure where their teacher was going with this.

"I mean, you never realized what this exercise was all about, not even close."

"What it's about?" Naruto was really confused.

"Yes, that's what determines whether you pass or fail." Kakashi tried to stay calm, disappointed that yet another team of student's didn't understand the fundamentals of being a ninja.

"But that… I mean I wanted to ask you about that from the beginning…" Sakura grew shy.

"Pfft, use your head, three people on a squad, why do you think we would do that?" he tried to help them figure it out on their own, but with the exhaustion of the challenge, lack of sleep and mal nutrition, they weren't thinking clearly.

"How are we supposed to know why you pick three people? We didn't make the rules!" Naruto shouted.

"It's so basic… team work!" Kakashi raised his voice slightly at them, trying to get it through their heads.

"Just working together, is that what you mean?" Sakura asked, while Naruto and Sasuke were speechless.

"That's what I mean. It's too late now, but if all three of you had come at me, you might have been able to take them." Kakashi raised his head and straightened his back, still sitting on Sasuke. "Well, it's over."

Sakura paused a moment, "You set it up with three people, but only two bells. If we worked together and got the bells, only two of us could keep them. That would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up."

"Exactly." Kakashi said, bored again. "I purposely pitted you against each other, I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A Genin should have a natural feel for team work. But you, it never even crossed your mind… Sakura!" he turned his attention on her, "You obsessed about Sasuke who was gone, while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't lift a finger to help him." Sakura slumped in humiliation at Kakashi's analogy. "Naruto, you do everything on your own. _Everything._" He pressed his foot down harder on Sasuke's head and drove his face into the earth, making Sasuke wince in pain, "And you Sasuke thought the others were so far beneath you they were worthless. _Arrogance_. Ninja missions are carried out in squads, of course you need individual skills, but team work is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad, this can lead to failure… and death." Kakashi reached to his pouch and produced a kunai, placing it against Sasuke's throat, "For example, Sakura. Kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies."

Naruto and Sakura gasped; Naruto worried she may actually try to kill him.

Kakashi kept the kunai on Sasuke's throat another moment, then pulled it away, "That's what happens on a mission," he twirled the kunai around his finger now, "the enemy takes a hostage and you've got an impossible choice, and someone ends up dead." He replaced the kunai to its pouch and stood to walk away, "On every mission, your life is on the line."

Sasuke didn't get up, just stared at his team mates.

Kakashi walked over to the memorial site, "Did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it?"

Erina looked away, bowing her head.

"They are all ninja honored as heroes in our village…" Kakashi explained, looking at the monument with sympathy and regret.

"That's it, that's it, that's it! Now I know! I've decided I'm gonna have my name engraved on that stone!" Naruto said with renewed energy. "I'm not gonna live and die for nothing like a dog, I'm gonna be a hero! A hero!" Sasuke walked over to Naruto, his shoulders slumped over in disappointment.

Kakashi turned to the students, "They are… a special kind of hero." He explained.

"Huh? What kinda heroes are they? Come on, tell us!" Naruto begged.

Kakashi didn't respond at first, until Naruto pushed him further, "They are all… K.I.A."

Naruto smiled, "That sounds real cool!"

Sakura turned to him, "It means killed in action, they all died."

Naruto paused, feeling like an idiot.

There was a moment of silence as the young students absorbed what was being explained to them, honoring the deaths of the ninja on that stone.

"This is a memorial stone… the names of my closest friends are engraved here…" Kakashi said quietly, the pain lacing his voice.

Erina closed her eyes and resisted the urge to comfort Kakashi, remembering alongside with him those painful memories of their past.

He turned to the students, "All right, I'm going to give you one more chance. But I'm going to make it much harder on you, you'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength, but Naruto doesn't get any."

Erina smiled, knowing what he was up to.

Naruto got upset, "It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself," Kakashi said walking over to them, "and if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immediately fail." He leaned over to scare them.

They stared, wide eyed and afraid.

"I make the rules, you follow them, got it?" he said, the intensity of his voice making Erina shiver.

He jumped away without another word, leaving Sakura and Sasuke to eat.

Erina walked towards where Kakashi had popped up, his arms crossed.

"You were much stricter with them than you have been with any other students."

"They need to learn." He said, closing his eyes.

"You were never really going to drop them from the program, were you?" she smiled.

He gave a small laugh, "Sometimes, I forget how well you know me."

They walked towards the shade of a tree and Erina sat down while Kakashi lay his head in her lap, while they closed their eyes and rested.

"By the way, you're making breakfast and dinner for the next month."

"What?" he jumped up, "Why?"

"Because you made me wait for six hours this morning, _and _you bought those books."

"No, I didn't." his voice grew small.

"Don't lie to me, Kashi. I saw the cover of the one you were reading while training them, I know it's a new book." She eyed him carefully.

He slumped his shoulders, and returned to laying his head in her lap.

"Fine, I guess that's fair."

"And don't even think of purposely making dinner horrible, because I know you can cook." She started to absentmindedly play with his hair. The softness of it calming her anxiety, worrying if the students would understand what he was trying to tell them.

"Fine." He pouted and turned over.

She watched the students through the small clearing of space in the bushes, able to see the backs of Sasuke's and Sakura's heads.

A few minutes went by until she saw Sasuke lift his lunch box to Naruto, then Sakura started looking around left and right, like she was searching for someone.

Sakura held out her lunch box now to Naruto, as if she was giving a peace offering.

"Kashi." Erina smiled and looked down at him. When he met her eyes, she nodded.

He smiled and leaned his head back, "Finally." He sighed.

"Better get over there and traumatize them some more." She said with a small giggle.

"That was an accident." He defended, standing to walk towards the students slowly.

"No, it wasn't, you drama queen."

"They need to learn somehow." He shrugged.

"I almost got dizzy from how much I was rolling my eyes at your ridiculous tricks."

"I would have caught you if you fainted." He said, turning his back to her.

"Mhmm…" she grew happy again, knowing these students had finally passed his true test.

"I'll meet you out there in a few minutes." He said before teleporting away.

Erina stood and started to walk towards the clearing, secretly looking forward to his most dramatic show yet. She got close enough she could see and hear what was happening, while Sakura was feeding Naruto.

Kakashi appeared in a violent burst of smoke and scared the three kids, causing them to freeze in their places.

"You!" he stared them down. "You broke the rules; I hope you're ready for the punishment." He started making hand signs, the clouds above them turning grey and stormy. "Any last words?" he stood there, at his full five — foot ten height, the ground beginning to shake.

Erina tried to hold back her laughter at the ridiculousness Kakashi was pulling.

"B — but you — u said –" Naruto started to explain.

"Yes?" Kakashi encouraged.

"You said that there were three of us! That's what you said and that's why Sakura and…" his voice trailed off.

"We're all on this squad and we're all in it together." Sasuke finished, meeting Naruto's eyes.

"Yeah, that's right! We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one."

Kakashi walked forward menacingly, "The three of you are one? That's your excuse?" he dropped the hand sign and leaned forward, meeting their terrified gazes.

He waited a moment, for dramatic effect then smiled underneath his mask, "You pass." He said with a happy tone.

Naruto and Sakura questioned it completely, sure this was another trick. Sasuke waited for an attack to come out from anywhere.

"You… pass." Kakashi repeated himself slowly.

"What do you mean? How did we pass?" Sakura questioned, still somewhat defensive.

"You're the first squad that ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception, in the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Kakashi told them, pride drifting through his voice.

All three of them began to relax, accepting that the day was finished.

"The exercise is over, everyone passes. Squad seven, start's its first mission tomorrow."

The kids nearly started to cry from how thrilled they were, now becoming proud their sensei was so tough on them.

"First, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to." Kakashi walked forward and untied Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura standing at full attention now.

Erina walked out and the students stared at her in disbelief. Sasuke immediately gasped, catching her attention.

"You…" he said on a whisper, recognizing her from earlier.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I've heard a lot about you." She said quietly.

"Sensei, who is this?" Sakura asked.

"She is your other sensei, we come as a pair."

"A pair? Is that normal?" Naruto asked.

"Not really, but for us it is. We've been together since we were children, doing missions together and training together." Kakashi explained, while Erina took off her mask and lowered her hood.

Naruto gasped now, "Wow! She's pretty!"

Erina smiled, "Thank you, Naruto."

"What's your name?" Sasuke walked towards her with curiosity lining his features. Erina's mind immediately started to analyze him, study him, diagnose what his emotions were. There was curiosity, yes. But also fear, insecurity, confusion, and familiarity.

_There's no way he could remember me…_

"This is Sandā."

"Sandā?" Naruto and Sakura repeated at the same time.

"Yes, she'll be accompanying us on missions and doing other forms of training with you guys." Kakashi held his hand out as if he was presenting Erina to them.

Sasuke glared, his thoughts processing. "That's not your real name, is it?" he glared, trying to figure out where he had seen her before.

"No, it's not. It's an alias, but it's what everyone knows me as. Only one person knows my name, and he's standing beside me."

"Why does only Kakashi sensei know your real name?" Sakura walked towards them as well, standing beside Sasuke. Naruto jumped beside her, not wanting to be left out.

"You'll understand soon enough." Kakashi said quietly, hoping the students would let it go.

There were a few moments of silence between them, until Naruto's growling stomach broke it.

Kakashi smiled, "Come on, let's go home." He said to everyone, turning away with Erina falling into step beside him.

"Don't you think the name 'Sandā' is a little weird for an alias? It just means 'thunder', it's not actually a name." Sakura whispered to Sasuke.

"Hn…" Sasuke watched her walking beside Kakashi, still unsure of how he felt about her. Something in his gut told him not to trust her appearance, that there was so much more to her than she let on. And the fact a woman like her was with Kakashi… it didn't make much sense to Sasuke. Naruto wasn't kidding when he commented she was pretty, she was beautiful, anyone could see that. So why was she with Kakashi, but they weren't married? Sasuke didn't like it when things were hidden from him intentionally. He swore to himself he would find out her true identity, and where the hell he had seen her before.

The three Genin followed after their sensei's, two of them just happy to have passed, while the third watched Erina's every move.

When they arrived in town, Kakashi instructed them to meet at the same spot eight tomorrow morning

"Just a heads up, when he says eight, he means ten, at the earliest." Erina smiled.

"So that six hour delay this morning is normal for him?" Sakura asked.

"Oh yeah, it gets really irritating the longer you're around it." Erina laughed.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and placed his hand on her shoulder, "And this one enjoys torturing me on a daily basis, so you guys should try to not get on her bad side."

Sasuke soon departed the company without a word, retreating to his home, where no one waited for him.

Erina watched him carefully, always keeping track of his emotions, his body language and chakra reaction. When he walked through the door, she dropped her guard, making a mental note that she would have her work cut out for her with the youngest Uchiha.

"Thank you Kakashi sensei and Sandā sensei!" Sakura and Naruto waved good bye while they went off in their own directions to home.

"I'm going to have to ask them to drop the sensei, I don't like it."

"I quite like the sound of Kakashi sensei." Kakashi placed his fingers on his chin, thinking it over.

"Come on, I want dinner." She said, grabbing his hand and starting off to their own apartment.

"Awe, come on, I'm tired." He whined.

"I'm the one that's actually been awake since four – thirty this morning."

"Yeah, but I did all the actual training." He argued.

"You just stood there and read your book and did a couple Jutsu's now and then." She pulled him along, while he tried to break her grip.

"Come on, please? I want to go to the book store and see what's been released." He looked towards the open doors longingly.

"You were just there less than twenty – four hours ago!"

"Yeah, but they have new stuff come in every morning." He pouted.

When they passed an alley way, Erina pulled them down through the shadows, and pushed Kakashi up against the wall.

"Kashi, we made a deal." She said with a breathy sigh, bringing her hands up to grip his and place them against the wall near his shoulders. He looked down at her, trying to control his emotions, praying she wouldn't see how much she aroused him.

"Please, Kashi? I want to relax tonight, take a bath and rest before we have to start a daily routine of missions." She begged with a sultry tone to her voice.

She was targeting him; he knew her tricks. She used her sexuality to gain what she wanted, but she had never done it on him before. Although, things like today also never happened before.

He tried to control his breathing and heart rate, something much more easily said than done when she was pushing herself up against him, her knee coming up to part his legs just slightly.

He wondered if maybe she did return his feelings, maybe he could be honest with her.

"Please?" she whispered, looking at him with hunger in her eyes.

"Uh…" he sighed, "Fine." He groaned, and she smiled, releasing his hands.

"I'll see you at home." She disappeared in her signature puff of blue smoke.

_Not before I go to the book store._ He smiled to himself, and started to walk towards the open doors.

He reached for his wallet to count how much cash he had on him… only to find it wasn't in its usual pocket.

He started searching for it frantically, worried he had lost it.

"Wait…" he thought back to when Erina had him pushed against the wall, her hands holding his, her legs coming up to part his own… he was so transfixed by her eyes that he didn't notice she had released one of his hands momentarily to reach into his pocket and swipe his wallet.

"Erina…" he groaned, his head tilting back in slight annoyance but also pride. She was too damn good at thieving.

He made his hand sign to teleport home, and when he walked in through the door, she was nowhere in sight. He walked into their bed room and saw the bathroom door was closed and locked, flickering lights coming from underneath the gap in the door.

_She must be taking a bath._

No matter, he'd get her to tell him where his wallet was eventually. In the meantime, he was going to continue reading the book he didn't get to finish while training the students today. He reached into the pouch where he kept it, and felt it wasn't there. He wondered if maybe she had simply picked it up and placed it down somewhere in the apartment. He started to look around, and when he was running out of places to look, he went back into their bed room and looked at the spot where he always kept all of his Icha Icha books, only to find none of them were there.

"No…" he searched frantically, pulling aside the bed covers, moving their clothes around in the dresser, moving the chairs and shoes, anything he could possibly think of where she might have put them, "She didn't…" he started scrambling, turning the place upside down but could find none of them.

"Erina!" he shouted, banging on the door in terror, "What did you do with my books?" he picked the lock on the door and walked in to see her lounging in the tub, bubbles everywhere to cover her body completely and candles lit with a charming vanilla scent.

She smiled and locked gazes with him, "I hid them." She said blankly.

"Where are they?" he asked, breathing heavily.

"I'm not telling." She grinned while he walked towards the tub and gripped her hand, pleading with her. He pulled his mask down, locking eyes with her.

"Please, Erina, I need my books and wallet back."

"Nope."

"I'll make you dinner for a week!" he begged and bargained.

"I believe we already agreed that you would be making breakfast and dinner for the next month." She said, splashing some water on him.

He groaned, "Please, Erina?"

"That's what you get for being an ass and making people wait six hours for you, dork." She raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to annoy her further.

He wanted to argue, but knew she was right. His shoulders slumped forward and he bowed his head in defeat. "What would you like for dinner?" he mumbled.

"I don't care, so long as I don't have to cook." She leaned back and released her hand from his, pushing her feet out of the bubbles to hang them off the edge of the tub.

He groaned and stood to walk out, turning around to watch her a few more moments.

"By the way, I want a massage after dinner too." She opened her eyes and smiled, planning on taking full advantage of where she had him.

He sighed, "Fine."

"And don't even think of skipping out, you know I'll find you."

"Yeah, yeah." He closed the door behind him, hoping that she didn't notice his headband was lifted just slightly enough for him to activate his sharingan and commit the image she presented to memory.

He smiled, excited for the next time he was alone.


	2. Assassin in the Mist

Erina stepped out of the tub wearing one of Kakashi's shirts, the size of it enveloping her. He was working away at the stove, hoping that if he made the meal good enough, she would tell him where she hid his books.

"Dinner almost ready?" she asked with a smirk.

He sighed, "Yeah, only another five minutes." He said, stirring the vegetables around.

"I'll set the table." She walked away, grabbing the plates and glasses. She had a feeling sake tonight may not be a good idea. Kakashi was already somewhat agitated with her. The books were still in the apartment, but she hid them somewhere she knew he would never go looking.

She sat down at the table, just noticing then that Kakashi had changed into a pair of sweats but kept his tight shirt on with his mask still attached.

"Ready." Kakashi brought the steaming food over and placed it into the dishes Erina had set out. He then filled the glasses with some soda, thinking it was a good idea to spoil her; soda was her favorite.

"Thank you." She smiled, digging into the meal. "Mhmm… this is delicious, Kashi." She took another bite.

"Good." He smiled back, bringing his chair towards the table and began eating himself.

_But is it enough to get her to return my books and wallet?_

"What?" she asked, finishing off a bite.

"What?" he was confused.

"You were staring at me." She raised an eyebrow at him, taking another forkful of the dinner.

"Oh, sorry." He knelt his head down and focused on his food.

Only a few moments went by until he heard her speaking again, "You could just ask, you know." She was sitting back in her chair, plate cleared and glass empty.

_That was…fast._

"Ask what?"

"If I'll give you your books and wallet back." She grinned.

"Well I figured since my begging wasn't enough, you wouldn't give them back if I simply asked."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Kashi. If you ask nicely, I may just return them." She leaned forward with her elbows on the table, bringing her hands together.

He stood and walked over; no longer interested in his unfinished dinner. He stood tall over her, resting one palm flat on the table.

"Erina, can I please have my books and wallet back?" he pleaded, trying to use his best puppy eyes.

"Hmm…" she thought for a moment. "I guess you did hold up your end of the bargain…"

He felt a glimmer of hope.

"Tell you what, I'll return one book to you each day you make me breakfast and dinner. You have thirty or so books, and that will amount to a month of food preparations."

"But — "

"It's either that or nothing." She leaned back in the chair again, daring him to push her further.

He slumped his shoulders. "Alright." He bowed his head in defeat.

"Great." He heard her pulling something out from somewhere.

"Here." She held his wallet out to him,

He reached towards it but paused, "… where did you pull this from?"

"Nowhere." She smirked, standing now.

He gripped his wallet and felt that it was quite warm before he tossed it towards his Jōnin jacket.

She walked into their bedroom and he followed, eager to get one of his books back. He wondered where she had hidden them?

"Want to try to guess where one is?" she asked, crossing her arms and standing in the middle of the room.

"I already looked everywhere."

"Obviously not if you haven't found one." She watched him try to figure out her little joke.

"I don't know where they are, Erina." He whined.

She rolled her eyes, "Where is the one place in our apartment that I would put something I know you wouldn't look?"

He waited, hoping for an answer.

She watched him, refusing to give him any more hints.

The wheels turned in his head…

"Erina…" he glanced towards their dresser. "You didn't…"

She smiled even more.

"In there?" he whispered, terrified.

"I don't know, why don't you go check." She stepped aside and gave him the room to walk towards the dresser, watching as his hands shook towards the first drawer, the forbidden drawer that he never once opened since she moved in. She never laid any kind of claim to it, he just refused to even touch it, which was ironic considering what he read on a daily basis.

His fingers got closer and closer to the handle, once he gripped it, he paused a moment… she waited. He yanked it open and turned away, refusing to look.

"You may want to use your eyes, Kashi. I hid it pretty good." She nearly laughed, watching him rummaging around in a dresser drawer.

He groaned loudly, opened his eyes, and nearly jumped back like he'd been slapped. She didn't help him, just started laughing at his reddening face.

He stepped closer and peered in, trying to not memorize anything she owned. Everything was so lacy, he wondered how the hell she moved around comfortably. He reached his hand towards the back of the drawer and finally found salvation; he pulled one book free and closed the drawer like it contained a plague.

"How can something like that make you pant for air like you just ran a marathon and yet your stamina for training is nearly perfect?" she shook her head, watching him put his book away very carefully in the place she had stolen it from.

"It's weird…" he mumbled, embarrassed now.

"Come on, I want my massage." She walked towards the bathroom and brought out a towel, stripping the shirt off facing away from Kakashi and laying down on the sheets, placing the towel over her behind, hiding anything that may distract him.

He took a deep breath and tried to focus. He stepped onto the mattress and started placing his hands on her bare back.

"You forgot the oil, Kashi." She mumbled into the sheets.

"Oil? We don't have any oil."

"I bought some." She lifted a hand and pointed to the small table beside their bed; he opened the drawer and there was a small bottle of massage oil. He put some in his hands and started rubbing them together, spreading it generously onto his palms.

He started to touch her skin again, and she gave a happy sigh, visibly relaxing from his touch. He straddled her from behind and tried to keep calm, refusing to let his imagination run wild. He spread his hands around her back, gripping her waist nearly entirely with his large hands. The oil was scented, seemed like some kind of oak to him.

He was curious what the bottle said it was, but decided to leave it for later. He continued to press gently into Erina's back, gently manipulating her muscles.

"You're not going to break me in half." She said in a tired voice.

"Huh?" he looked up.

"You're massaging me like I'm a new born, you can do it harder, I'm not going to get hurt." She stuck her face back in the pillow, relaxing again.

He took her direction and pressed into her skin more firmly, pushing upwards and trying to stretch her spine. She was really stressed; he could feel multiple knots in her muscles. He then worked up to her neck, gently pressing beneath her ears and dragging his thumbs down to her shoulders, bringing his other fingers around to the front and gently brushing them to the front of her neck.

"Mhmm…" she made a sound of appreciation. He was glad he could make her happy like this. Maybe he should give her massages more often…

He trailed back down to her shoulder blades and started pressing firmly, spreading the knots to try to loosen them.

"Deeper, Kashi." She mumbled.

He nearly gasped, surprised at her words.

_Right, she means deeper with my hands._ He shook his head and complied, pressing even harder into her soft skin.

But those words had hit him so hard, he couldn't forget them.

_Uh oh…_

He could feel his member starting to thicken, growing with the excitement from her words. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. Damn, and he'd been doing so well, not giving in.

He saw her hands and reached up for them, moving to now sit on the edge of the bed so she couldn't see his embarrassing display.

He held her hand and started to gently massage her fingers, her entire hand so much smaller than his… he wondered what they would feel like on his —

_Stop! Not good!_ He stood and dropped her hand roughly.

"Kashi, where are you going?" she asked, sleepily.

"I just remembered I didn't do the report for the training earlier, I need to hand that in." he said, walking out briskly.

She looked at the clock, "But, the office is closed…" she said to herself.

She shrugged it off and reached for the shirt she had taken off, letting it fall back on to her shoulders. She crawled under the covers and turned the light out, loving the simple smell of Kakashi. She'd never admit it, but just his scent calmed her. He smelled like red oak, patchouli, cedarwood and sweet citrus, with just a hint of cashmere musk.

Kakashi quickly slipped on his shirt and Jōnin jacket; he saw the time was after midnight, but he had to leave, had to get away from her. She was too dangerous.

He opened and closed the door quickly, jumping away into the trees, running out to the nearest training ground.

_No one should be here at this hour._

He stopped at a tree and rested for a moment, giving his heart a chance to calm down. He let his legs dangle, trying to find anything to distract himself.

"Damn it." She was too intoxicating! Her scent drove him wild, and it became even more difficult when he used that scented massage oil on her. He was in so much trouble.

He tried some breathing exercises, but nothing helped. His member was so engorged and aching from neglect, he couldn't ignore it anymore. He sat with his back against the trunk, up high enough that no one could possibly see him.

He closed his eyes and started remembering how her naked skin felt in his hands, how slender her throat was, the fact that she asked him to do it _deeper._ That one damn word sent him over the edge. He started palming himself through his sweats, feeling the jerking and twitching reaction to the lightest physical touch. He gasped and covered his mouth, trying to keep quiet.

He replayed the image through his mind of when she was in the tub, barely covered by the bubbles.

_It's not enough…_

He gripped the waistband of his sweats and pulled them down just past his aching member, the sensation of being free a huge relief. He started to palm himself, imagining it was Erina's hands on him. He would teach her, coax her into submission, show her all the things he had fantasized of doing for years. He wanted to ravish her, feel her beneath him, watch her ride him; taste her, claim her, _mark_ her as his for everyone to see. He'd make her cry out so much, she'd start to lose her voice.

_Kami…_

His hand picked up speed, and he tightened his grip. He wanted her mouth on him, taking him so deeply and swallowing when he came. He knew just damn well how skilled her mouth was; there were a few times that she had to suck poison from his blood and he nearly kissed her every time.

Why did she have to be so damn taunting? He had a hard — enough time not claiming her every day whenever she wore that outfit. Showing off her toned stomach, only wearing a bra underneath her jacket, her hair so long and soft… he always wanted to run his hands through her hair; grip it as he pushed himself inside her, all the way until he couldn't move.

"Uhn…" Kakashi moaned behind his hand, trying to not cry out her name. He panted, his hips now thrusting into his working hand, trying to reach his orgasm. He fisted his length, imagining it was Erina riding him.

"Erina…" he whispered her name, imagined her throwing her head back and crying out his, he came with that image.

He felt his length pulse, gripped it tight and continued to pump, "Uh… _Ah_!" he panted, and felt the hot come release from his tip, landing on his jacket shamelessly, his hand still working his thick member. He kept coming, the flow seeming to never end. He fisted the tip, hard and fast while he threw his head back and bit his lip, refusing to cry out. He could hear the evidence of his first orgasm on his fingers while he worked himself up to his second one. His hips thrust up hard and he came again in moments, groaning quietly.

_Erina…_ he thought her name as he came again, hoping that someday, he could know what the real thing was like…

When he had returned to the apartment, it was past one in the morning. He wondered if she had stayed up for him. He walked into their bedroom and saw she was completely passed out under the sheets, wearing his shirt again.

He climbed into bed behind her, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist, pulling her close. She didn't stir, used to him coming to bed long after her and getting comfortable. He loved when she wore his shirts, his scent lingering on her. It was like he had claimed her. Her scent mixing with his was intoxicating. She smelt like raspberry lychee, sparkling prosecco, vanilla bourbon and creamy sandalwood. She'd worn his shirts so often that she started to smell faintly of him – it seemed like some kind of cashmere. He claimed his usual spot between her neck and shoulder, sighing with relief. He was glad he had gone to that training ground; if he hadn't, he wasn't sure he would have been able to lay beside her now.

He drifted, and dreamed of a different time, a time where he could actually tell her how he felt without any consequences. But for now, just holding her had to be enough…

* * *

"Ready?" she asked, slipping her hood over her now dry hair.

"Yeah." He smiled, holding the door open for her while she walked past him.

"Think they'll be excited for their first mission?" she smiled up at the sky, enjoying the new experience of being a sensei.

"I think they will be at first, then when they find out what kind of missions they'll be allowed to complete, they'll put up a huge fuss, especially Naruto."

She laughed and leaned into him, giving his shoulder a gentle shove. "I wonder who that reminds me of." She raised an eyebrow at him in suggestion.

"I was never as bad as Naruto."

"You were so much worse, and you know it." She laughed again.

They made their way towards The Hogake's office and received their mission to deliver to the Genin for the day.

"Again?" Erina sighed.

"Looks like it." Kakashi nearly sighed with her.

They walked into town and met with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, giving them a friendly good morning. Sakura had immediately said good morning to Erina, using the title 'sensei', and Erina had asked Sakura to drop the title. It was difficult at first, with Sakura and Naruto insisting the she honor the fact that she was a teacher, and had achieved such amazing status at such a young age. She argued that she was only one year younger than Kakashi, and that there were plenty of ninja who were younger than her but stronger than Kakashi.

They all made their way towards an open area, where Kakashi informed them of the mission. Sakura and Sasuke accepted with mostly graceful humility, but Naruto put up a bit of a fight. Kakashi was able to convince him he needed to do easy missions first just so that they could be monitored and judged on how they work as a team on a legitimate mission.

Erina and Kakashi waited out near the open field while the three students made their way into the trees, putting on their communication equipment.

Only a few minutes had passed until they started voicing their locations to Kakashi and Erina.

"Sasuke, I'm at Point B," his voice was quiet and steady through the monitor.

"Sakura, I'm at Point C."

Erina nodded.

"Naruto, I'm at Point A." it took Naruto twice as long to check in than the others.

Erina glanced at Kakashi. "You're slow, Naruto." He nearly groaned. He paused, then saw that their target had made a run for it. "Target has moved! Follow it."

The students had moved to accommodate for the target's new location, Kakashi paused, waiting for them to settle. "What's your distance from the target?"

"Five meters. I'm ready, just give the signal." Naruto insisted.

The other two confirmed they were prepared for the jump.

"Okay…" Kakashi paused, "Now."

She heard the whirring sound through the ear piece that the students had started surrounding the target, running fast.

She heard a grunt, then Naruto's voice screaming out on the other end, "I got him!"

Kakashi acknowledged, "Can you verify a red ribbon on the right ear?"

Erina could hear Naruto crying out in anger on his end, Sasuke interfering with the sound, "Affirmative. We have a positive ID."

"Right. Lost Pet Tora, captured. Mission accomplished." Kakashi said with a small smile, turning to Erina.

"Can't we get a better mission than this?! I hate cat's!" Naruto screamed into the ear piece so loud, it nearly knocked Kakashi over, Erina wincing at the sudden intrusion on her ear drums.

"You sure you two aren't related? You do share the same drama queen traits." She giggled while he pulled his ear piece off.

They all made their way back to The Hogake's quarters to return the cat to its owner and be given their next mission. Erina had to hold the cat because she was the only one it didn't try to scratch. She handed the animal over gently to its owner… who started immediately stifling it with 'affection'.

"No wonder he ran away." Sakura said quietly.

Erina tried to not nod her head in agreement, staying near the back behind their three pupils while The Hokage started listing off multiple missions that were available for them.

"No!" Naruto yelled out loudly over The Hokage. "I wanna go on a real mission!" Naruto crossed his arms in an X to give a visual representative of his disappointment. Kakashi and Erina stood back while Sasuke and Sakura stood next to their team mate.

"Something challenging and exciting! Not this little kid stuff! Come on old man!" Naruto continued to shout.

Erina glanced at Sasuke, who kept a blank expression. She had to assume he agreed with Naruto. Sasuke wanted to advance in his skills as quickly as possible, he didn't want to focus on team work; which is what all the beginner missions were all about.

Kakashi sighed in annoyance, "I knew this was coming…" he nearly groaned, an irritated expression on his face.

"How dare you!" Iruka had jumped up from his seat beside The Hogake. "You're just a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions and develop your skills and improve yourself."

"Are you serious?" Naruto leaned forward, angry now. "Babysitting is not a mission, it's just a stupid —" Naruto didn't get to finish his sentence before Kakashi walked forward and gave him a knock on the head, shutting him up effectively. "Will you put a lid on it?" he said in a bored tone.

"Naruto, it seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given." The Hokage replied, completely calm. "Listen. Many different kinds of requests come into our village every day. From babysitting to assassination. These requests are carefully recorded, analyzed, then ranked 'A', 'B', 'C', or 'D', depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by ability; Hokage at the top, Jōnin, Chūnin, and Genin at the bottom. At the highest level, we select the mission and assign them to ninja with the appropriate skill and experience. And if the mission is successful, we receive a fee that supports our village, and our work. Since you are untried Genin, just starting down the shinobi path, you are given 'D' level assignments, of course." By the time The Hokage had finished, he paused, hearing that Naruto hadn't been listening at all.

Erina turned and saw that Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi were all facing away from him, listening to a story Naruto was telling about a new ramen he had tried.

"Silence!" The Hogake interrupted the story, everyone now staring back at him.

"Oh… sorry." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

_Idiot._ Erina shook her head and turned away from them, back to The Hokage.

"You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not the little brat that used to pull pranks all the time. I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission! Hm." Naruto huffed and turned back around, pouting.

Kakashi lowered his head, "I'm going to hear about this later…" he mumbled.

"Maybe if you were paying attention, then you wouldn't have to be concerned." Erina mumbled back, stepping on his foot somewhat harshly.

"Ow!" he whispered back on a hiss, jumping on one foot to cradle the one she had stepped on.

The Hokage started to laugh, bringing Erina and Kakashi to look up again.

"Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat, he's a former brat, and he wants a mission. So be it." Erina glanced down at the still pouting Naruto until he turned around in an eager haste.

These words caught the attention of the other students as well, "Since you are so determined, I'm going to give you a 'C' ranked mission. You'll be body guards on a journey."

"Really?" Naruto smiled and stood, "Yes! Who? Are we guarding a princess, or some big — league councilor?

"Don't be so impatient," The Hokage replied, "I will bring him in now." He paused, "Send in our visitor."

The team of five turned around somewhat anxiously, the door opened and the first thing that they saw was a bottle of sake.

"What the? A bunch of little snot nosed kids?" a grumbly voice came through the door, from a man obviously very drunk and angry. He took an incredibly long chug of the sake, leaning against the wall. "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on his face. You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

"Uh oh…" Erina mumbled to herself.

Naruto laughed, "Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his face?" he asked, looking around, until Sasuke and Sakura walked closer beside him to show that he was in fact the shortest one among them. When he realized this, he tried to make a run at their client.

"I'll demolish you!"

Kakashi caught the back of his shirt while Naruto wailed in protest. "You can't demolish the client, Naruto. It doesn't work that way."

The man took another swig of the sake, and leaned forward in a drunken way to introduce himself. "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life." With those final words, and Naruto now happy he got a 'real' mission, the six of them departed from The Hokage's office and gathered some things they would need along the journey.

They began to walk towards the main gate, until Erina paused suddenly, gasping.

Kakashi stopped with her, looking back to grasp her shoulders, looking her in the eye. She didn't make eye contact with him, a somewhat vacated expression on her face.

"Hey, Kakashi sensei, what's wrong with Sandā?" Sakura asked, walking back to join them.

"Nothing, she's fine. Something crossed her mind that she forgot." He smiled and told the lie easily. He didn't need to frighten them so soon.

He saw Sasuke was watching Erina carefully, seeing what she would do.

"Why don't you guys go on ahead and we'll be right there in a moment." Kakashi turned around to face the three pupils and hide Erina from them.

"Okay." Naruto shrugged and continued on, Sakura joining him quickly. Sasuke stayed though, watching Erina.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said his name quietly, a gentle warning. Sasuke walked off to join the others.

Kakashi leaned down to look at Erina, crouching in front of her to wait until she came back to her senses. Literally. This only happened when a very sudden and dangerous chakra invaded her senses, surprising her.

He could see she was slowly starting to come back to herself, her eyes looking more like she was focusing on the current surroundings in front of her. He turned his head and saw that the three Genin were all waiting on the other side of the gate, watching them.

Kakashi stood and towered over her, waiting just a few more moments until she gasped again and her eyes were wide. He reached up and gripped her chin, raising her eyes up to meet with his.

"What did you feel?" he asked quietly.

"Someone's here, waiting." She said, calm now.

"Just now?"

She nodded, "Be on guard, Kashi. This mission is more dangerous than Tazuna led us to believe."

He gripped her chin for a moment longer, ensuring that she was fully back to herself, before he nodded and turned around, walking towards the gates with Erina at his side.

Naruto was nearly jumping for joy when they arrived, Tazuna following not far behind them.

"Yeah! Alright!" he threw his fists in the air in excitement.

"What are you so excited for, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

He started looking around, "This is the first time I ever left the village, I'm a traveler now!"

While Naruto was so distracted with his new surroundings, Tazuna began complaining, "Hey, am I supposed to entrust my life to this runt? He's a joke."

Kakashi quickly intervened, "He's with us and we're Jōnin, so you don't need to worry." He said, also pointing to Erina.

Naruto turned around sharply, pointing his finger at Tazuna, "Hey, never insult a ninja! It's a big mistake! And I'm one of the greatest ninjas ever! Someday I'm gonna be Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name's Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it!"

Tazuna had taken another drink before responding, "Hokage are powerful and wise, you are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly."

"Shut up! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage! No matter what it takes! And when I do, everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja, including you!"

"You can become Hokage ten times over, to me you'll still be a loser." Tazuna said with a bored tone.

Naruto grunted, and before he could get his hands on Tazuna, Kakashi stepped behind him and gripped his jacket

"I told you, you're supposed to protect the client, not attack them." Kakashi rolled his eyes while Naruto continued to flail in anger, shouting how he was going to beat Tazuna.

Erina twitched and gasped, looking up into a tree above them. Kakashi heard her and released Naruto.

"Quiet." He ordered, silencing Naruto.

He walked over to Erina and watched her stare at the tree, waiting for something to happen, for her to give a signal they were under attack.

She shook her head slightly, looking up at Kakashi, "I must have been mistaking." She said, a very purposeful look in her eyes.

He nodded and continued onward, following behind Tazuna. Naruto eventually took the lead, the other five behind him.

"Say, Mr. Tazuna," Sakura started. "Your country is the Land of Waves, right?"

"Yeah? What of it?"

"Kakashi sensei, there are ninja in that country too, aren't there?"

Kakashi turned his attention to his female student, "No. There are no ninja in the Land of Waves. But in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own customs and cultures. Where ninja reside. To the people of this continent, the distance of shinobi villages means strength. Military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves, and maintain the balance of power with neighboring countries. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government, they're independent and have equal status. Now a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that possess shinobi villages are the Lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories, together they are known as the five Great Shinobi Nations. The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves; the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Mist; the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Clouds; the Land of Wind, the Village Hidden in the Sand, and the Land of Earth, the Village Hidden in the Stones. Only the leaders of these Hidden Villages are permitted the name 'Kage', which means 'Shadow'. 'Hokage', 'Mizukage', 'Raikage', 'Kazekage', 'Tsuchikage'. These are the leaders; the five Shadows that reign over thousands of ninjas."

Sakura gasped in excitement, "Then Lord Hokage is really important!"

Erina got a feeling Sakura was being somewhat sarcastic. She leaned towards Kakashi, "That was the most I've ever heard you speak in all our lives." She smiled.

"Guess I'm getting more comfortable with teaching." He blushed, reaching his hand back to rub his neck.

"It would seem that way." She said back quietly, watching the students.

They weren't saying anything, which was odd. "Hey!" he yelled, catching them off guard, "You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you? That's what you were thinking." He had a very strict tone.

Naruto and Sakura shook their heads avidly, while Sasuke didn't move.

Kakashi walked forward, "Well, anyway. There are no ninja battles in a 'C' ranked mission, so you can relax."

"And we're not going to run into any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that." Sakura said, comfortable now.

Erina glanced at Tazuna, who had a nervous look on his face.

_Shit. I knew it._

Sasuke turned around at Kakashi's small laugh, "Not likely." He said simply.

They continued walking on in silence, Kakashi and Erina at the back walking beside each other. They crossed over a bridge with rushing water and fish inside.

They soon passed a puddle on the ground, with Erina walking dramatically out of the way of it, Kakashi following her every move with his eyes. He glanced over to her for a moment, and she met his gaze back, not giving anything away. He lifted his left hand that was the closest to her slightly free of its pocket, and tapped his leg three times with his two fingers. She looked forward again.

They continued walking, the Jōnin waiting.

A commotion happened so quickly behind them, and Kakashi turned around, stunned for a moment. "What?" another ninja was being thrown at him with aggressive force, a chain whipping out of his hand to wrap around Kakashi's body, the other end of the chain being grabbed by the ninja's partner, trapping Kakashi tightly. Kakashi grunted in pain, his body unable to move now.

Erina stood there and watched, nowhere near her students or trying to protect Tazuna.

The unknown ninja began talking to each other, "Do it." They confirmed and tightened the chain so much, that they all witnessed Kakashi's form combusting from the impact.

Sakura cried out in terror; Naruto was speechless. "Kakashi sensei!" the ninja appeared behind Naruto while he was distracted, the horror clear on his face.

Erina stepped back some more, observing the situation.

"Now it's your turn." They taunted him, they started to make their move, and Sasuke immediately jumped in, throwing first a shuriken to capture the chain and hook it into a tree, then a kunai to reinforce it. The ninja tried to free themselves from the tree, but it was too deeply embedded. Sasuke landed on their outstretched arms with each foot, gripped each one with a hand, and used the momentum to push against their faces to unlock the chains from their metal claws, half the threat eliminated.

They jumped away and one made a run at Naruto from behind again while the other ran to Tazuna, Sakura quickly jumping in front of Tazuna, holding a kunai to defend them.

The ninja stopped in front of her, reaching out to strike, Sasuke appeared, his arms outstretched, defending Sakura. Erina watched as the look on his face showed that he was appearing to brace for a huge impact. He had no real plan of defense, just tried to take the hit instead of Sakura.

Erina smiled, absorbing Sasuke's emotions. There was anger, determination, and a need to protect.

_Looks like her feelings may be somewhat reciprocated._ Erina thought.

Kakashi then appeared in front of Sasuke, his arms immediately grabbing the two unknown ninja's neck, a death grip now stopping them in their tracks.

Naruto groaned and looked up, seeing that Kakashi was indeed alive, Sakura now smiling and Sasuke having an angry expression on his face.

"Hi." Kakashi said in his usual bored tone.

Erina could tell Sasuke wasn't impressed, but angry with the fact that he got shown up by Kakashi.

Naruto glanced at the pieces of bark that were now in place of where Kakashi's 'body parts' were, finally realizing that he had used a Replacement Jutsu.

"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away." Kakashi said, looking back to his student, the ninja still in his grip. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt… I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that." Kakashi kept his tone analytical.

He walked over to Sasuke and Sakura, "Good job Sasuke, very smooth. You too, Sakura." He said with approval.

Erina watched Naruto as his emotions began to turn into anger, until Sasuke distracted him.

"Yeah?"

"You're not hurt, are you? Scaredy cat." Sasuke said in the most mocking tone Erina had heard.

Naruto got angrier and angrier, "Sasuke!" he made a leap for it, but before he could, Erina called out his name, stopping him in his tracks.

"Stand still, these ninjas have poison in their claws, we need to take it out of you quickly." Naruto blanched at what she said, "We have to open the wound and remove it, it's in your blood so don't move around, that spreads the poison." She walked over from where she was watching, beginning to take out one of her special kunai that was small and sharp enough, it acted as an instrument for surgery almost.

Naruto stared at his hand, fear emitting from him now.

Kakashi stayed where he was, allowing Erina to take care of Naruto. "By the way, Mr. Tazuna…" Tazuna turned to him, "We need to talk." Kakashi said with an almost ominous voice as he turned his head to their client.

Erina watched Kakashi as he tied the ninja's up against a tree, the others joining around him.

"They're Chūnin, from the Village Hidden in the Mist. They're specialty is relentless attack; they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice." He explained to the students.

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of the Mist ninjas asked.

Erina glanced at Kakashi, "A puddle on a clear day when it hasn't rained in weeks." He simply explained.

She let out an inaudible sigh, unsure if he was going to explain what really happened. That was just simply one of the things they noticed. She didn't want him to expose their secret to their students just yet.

"In that case, why did you leave it for the Genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked.

"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I'd have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was… and what they were after." Kakashi said, eyeing Tazuna with suspicion.

"What are you getting at?" Tazuna asked, insulted.

"This." Kakashi turned to him, "I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or if they were after you, the master bridge builder. When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection, from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this, it would be a 'B' ranked mission, or higher, our task was simply to get you to your destination, and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we'd be dealing with attacks from enemy ninja, we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a 'B' mission. Apparently, you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission." Kakashi's voice started to take on an angry tone near the end.

Tazuna didn't say anything.

Sakura chimed in, "We're Genin, this is too advanced for our level of training, we should go back… and I really think we need to treat Naruto's wound and get the poison out. Back in our village we can take him to a doctor."

Kakashi looked over to Naruto, Erina standing beside him waiting for him to finish with his thoughts so she could work on his hand and remove the poison.

"Hmmm… Naruto's hand could become a problem…" Kakashi mused, mulling things over in his head. "I guess we should go back to the village." He said with a sigh.

Naruto grew angry again. Kakashi glanced at Naruto, watching his reaction.

"Naruto, stop. You have to get control of your emotions, all your doing is speeding your heart rate up and spreading the poison even faster – " she paused as she saw Naruto take out a kunai and stab himself through the hand where the wound was, letting blood drip heavily from the top of his hand.

Everyone gasped, except for Erina who just gave Kakashi an irritated sigh.

Naruto stepped away, "Why am I so different? Why am I always… ugh!"

Sakura stepped towards him, angry now. "Naruto! Stop that, what are you doing?" she yelled.

"Step back, Sakura." Erina instructed, keeping an eye on him.

_He needs to feel this._

"I worked so hard to get here. Pushing myself until it hurt. Training alone for hours. Anything to get stronger, to reach my dream." The blood continued to drip. "I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away and I will not lose to Sasuke. Upon this wound, I make this pledge. Believe it. Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife." He turned around, still holding the kunai into his skin, making a painful smile to them all.

Erina glanced at Sasuke and could feel the urge to challenge Naruto radiating from him.

_By the time this mission is finished, I'm going to be carrying two bodies home._ She sighed.

"Naruto… uh, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all… but if you lose any more blood, you're going to die." Kakashi said with a matter — of — fact voice.

They all stayed silent for a moment.

Naruto began to sweat, fear now lining his features, his hand shaking.

Kakashi appeared behind him, "Good idea to stop the bleeding now, seriously." He said with a sarcastic smile.

Naruto starting flailing, "No, no, no! I'm too young for it to all end like this!"

Erina walked towards Naruto, now standing beside Kakashi., "Give me your hand, Naruto." He stilled and tried to not move, placing his hand in her palm. She knelt down, "I was going to get the poison out safely for you, you know." She said, gently chastising him. "Poisons and remedies are a strong point for me. Next time, this isn't necessary." She gave a small pat on his head while he turned slightly red, and looked down at his palm, starting to take out a bandage to wrap around it. The cut was deep and still slightly gushing out his blood.

She knelt down and started to get to work… until she felt a strange force emanating from Naruto. She looked at his hand and saw the wound begin to close all on its own. She tried to not gasp and draw attention to it, worried about Naruto's reaction.

"Kashi." She simply said his name, and he was there in an instant, kneeling down beside her. He saw what she was witnessing, and he glanced over at her, nodding slightly.

_This is the power of the Nine Tails… amazing…_ she was mesmerized as she watched the wound completely close.

Naruto broke their concentration, "Uhm… uhm… you have really serious looks on your faces, you're scaring me, am I okay?" he asked, shaking slightly.

"You'll be fine." Erina said with a smile, wrapping the bandage around his hand, simply to keep up appearances.

They all continued onward with their journey, Sakura giving Naruto a talking to almost the entire way about his 'self — abusive personality'.

They eventually made it to a bridge, where a boat was waiting. Thankful to get off their feet, they all hopped in and the motor started. Only a few minutes went by until the engine was cut off, and they continued on with manual movement.

A dense fog began to take over their surroundings, Erina keeping a watchful eye out, staying aware of the kinds of chakra signatures that may surround them.

"This fog is so thick." Sakura said.

"The bridge isn't far now. Our destination is just ahead, the Land of Waves."

Naruto leaned forward in curiosity, until an enormous bridge that was half completed came into view.

"Woah! It's huge!" Naruto said at a much too loud volume.

"Quiet! I told you no noise. Why do you think we're traveling like this, huh?"

Naruto covered his mouth while Erina closed her eyes to focus.

Kakashi turned to the client, "Mr. Tazuna. Before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

Tazuna didn't say anything for several moments.

"I have no choice but to tell you. No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi echoed Tazuna's words in curiosity. "Hmm… who is it?"

"You know him. At least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, the shipping magnet, Gato."

"Huh?" Kakashi cocked his head in confusion. "Gato? Of Gato Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him."

At Kakashi's curiosity, Naruto perked up and joined the conversation. "Who, who? What, what?"

"Gato is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true, but below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses, and nations, he sells drugs and contraband. Using gang's and ninjas. It was one year ago when Gato first set his sight on the Land of Waves, he came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply… disappeared. In an island nation, the man who controls the sea controls everything, finance, government, our very lives, but there's one thing he fears. The bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the land and that will break his control. I am the bridge builder." He finished off his explanation, looking up at the unfinished bridge.

"So that's it, since you're in charge of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way." Sakura concluded.

Sasuke turned to her, "That means, those guys we fought in the forest, they were working for Gato."

"I don't understand, if you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the Land of Waves is a small impoverished nation, even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an 'A' or 'B' rank mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home… but don't feel bad about that… of course my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'granddad, I want my granddad'" Tazuna imitated the voice of a young boy.

Erina opened her eyes and watched how the others reacted.

"Oh, and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Hidden Leaf, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow. Oh well, it's not your fault, forget it." Tazuna said in a contradictory tone.

Erina could hear the others sighing, "There's no need for blackmail." She said.

"Well… I guess we have no other choice. We'll have to keep guarding you." Kakashi said with a shrug.

"Ooh, I'm very grateful." Tazuna replied.

"We're approaching the shore." The driver announced quietly.

The boat made its way through a tunnel and on the other side was a small but beautiful sight of houses on the water and a big green tree in the middle of it all.

The boat stopped at a dock and the six got off, the boat driver informing Tazuna that this was as far as he went. Their client thanked him as he rode off, starting the engine again.

"Okay, take me to my home. And I mean get me there in one piece."

"Right." Kakashi started walking off, leading the group this time with Erina directly behind him.

_The next ninja they send won't be Chūnin, but Jōnin, ninja with deadly skills… ugh…_

Erina could tell by Kakashi's slumped over posture that he was already tired of this mission. Not that she could blame him, he wasn't mentally prepared at all for what this mission suddenly demanded of them and to have to train Genin and protect them and a client at the same time? Not very fun.

They kept walking quietly, Naruto behind Erina and eventually walking in front of her and Kakashi, to lead the group. Sasuke apparently took it as a challenge and started walking faster, quickly catching up with Naruto.

Kakashi slowed down to walk beside Erina, while Naruto stopped and ran ahead a few feet, searching the trees and bushes for any undetected threat. The group stopped and watched him, Erina leaning over to tap Kakashi on the arm with a smile on her facing, pointing to Naruto. She thought it was quite adorable how he was always trying to prove he was the best.

Naruto paused and looked to his right, "Over there!" he threw a kunai into the bushes, startling everyone else. He stopped and waited, then stood straight, "It was just a mouse." He said with a cool tone.

The others began to chew him out, while Naruto still kept searching for something or someone, "Hey, is someone hiding over there? No, they're over there… over there!" he turned around and threw another kunai into the bushes.

Sakura walked over to Naruto and hit him on the head, "Why'd you do that? Someone really is following us, I mean it."

Kakashi walked over to where Naruto had thrown the kunai and found a white rabbit stunned into fear against the bottom of a tree trunk, the kunai inches above its head.

Erina went to follow him, but stopped dead in her tracks, gasping again.

Kakashi heard her and quickly walked over, gripping her shoulders. She didn't stay vacant for as long, hunching over and wrapping her arms around herself. She was panting.

"Sandā?" Kakashi whispered.

"Be ready." She said, raising her head up to meet his eyes. She regained her composure and he saw her hands drop to her sides gain, her right hand making the number four with her fingers. They were four hundred feet away. She jumped out of his arms and into a tree nearby.

"Huh? Where'd Sandā go?" Naruto asked, walking over to Kakashi.

"She just wanted to see the town from this viewpoint." He said, turning around to look at the still stunned bunny.

Sakura and Naruto walked up behind him, "Naruto! Look what you did!"

"A rabbit!" Naruto ran over to the rabbit and tried to coddle it, apologizing and gently petting its fur.

_That's a snow rabbit… but the color…they only have white fur during winter, when the days are short and there's little sunlight… this rabbit was raised indoors away from the light, which could only be for one purpose… a replacement technique._ Kakashi was looking around their surroundings anxiously. _So, they're already here…_ He turned his head in the opposite direction Erina had run off to. Prepared, just as she instructed him to be. They already knew they were in fact being followed, now they just had to find out by whom.

Naruto kept trying to calm the bunny down, until Kakashi broke their distraction.

"Look out!" he called as an enormous blade swung towards them, they all ducked out of the way and the blade stuck into a tree, a ninja now perching on the handle with perfect grace and balance.

Kakashi stood, looking up to see who their opponent was.

_That must be…_

Kakashi started walking forwards, underneath the new ninja, his hands in his pockets.

"Well, well. If it isn't Zabuza Mamochi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

Naruto was working himself up from the excitement to take on the new opponent, showing everyone what he was made of.

But Kakashi held his arm out and stopped him before Naruto could get anywhere near Zabuza.

"You're in the way, get back." Kakashi said in a deadly voice.

"But why?" Naruto grew angry.

"He's not like those other ninjas, he's in a whole other league. If he's our opponent… I'll need this…" he raised his hand up to his head band that was covering his left eye, the three students showing their fear and anxiety. "This could be treacherous…" Kakashi said quietly.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye. Did I get that right?" Zabuza asked, still looking down at them. "It's too bad, huh? But you'll have to hand over the old man."

Kakashi paused, "Now, quick, Manji formation. Protect the bridge builder and stay out of this fight." He instructed them.

No one moved.

"We taught you team work, now it's time to use it." Kakashi began to lift his headband, revealing a long scar that went from his eyebrow to the middle of his cheek. His left eye was red, not dark grey like his other.

"Well… looks like I get to see the sharingan in action. This is an honor." Zabuza now turned fully to face them.

"Everyone keeps saying 'sharingan', 'sharingan', will someone please tell me what 'sharingan' is?" Naruto said, irritated.

"'Sharingan', a rare power it resides in the eyes. The user of this visual Jutsu or Dōjutsu, can instantly see and comprehend any Genjutsu, Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and reflect the attack back on the attacker. The 'sharingan' is a special, rare form Dōjutsu. However, there's more to the 'sharingan' than that, a lot more." Sasuke explained, with a confused expression on his face.

"You got it right boy," Zabuza replied, "but you only scratched the surface, the sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique and then copy it to the smallest detail." Zabuza finished, as a thick fog started to cover everywhere around them.

"Wait, what about Sandā?" Sakura asked, worried.

"Don't worry about her, just keep your guard up and protect Tazuna." Kakashi said, not turning around.

"As for you, Jōnin, in the assassination unit of the Hidden Mist, we got a standing order to kill you on sight. Your profile was in our bingo book, they called you 'The Man Who Copied Over 1000 Jutsu'. 'Kakashi The Copy Ninja'."

They stared each other down, sizing each other up, neither one of the Jōnin moving a muscle.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto grew even more excited that his sensei was so well known.

Sasuke watched Kakashi carefully.

"Enough talking." Zabuza crouched down on his blade, "I need to exterminate the old man, now."

The three students immediately took formation around Tazuna, their kunai ready.

"So, I'll have to eliminate you first, eh Kakashi? So be it." Zabuza pressed his foot against the tree and pulled the blade free, jumping away in an instant. He appeared on the water, standing on the surface, his hands holding a Jutsu sign.

_He's building up a huge amount of chakra._

Kakashi watched him carefully, and he disappeared behind the mist. A single leaf trailing in his wake.

Kakashi walked around the students, "Sensei." Sakura started.

"He'll come after me first."

"But who is he?"

"Zabuza Mamochi, the ex — leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination Unit. He's a master of the silent killing technique."

"Silent?" Naruto asked nervously.

"As the name suggests, it happens in an instant. Without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast you pass from this life without realizing what has happened. The sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard."

The three young Genin were stunned into silence.

"Well if we fail, we only lose our lives." Kakashi said.

They lost sight of Kakashi at that moment, the mist beginning to get even thicker.

Zabuza's disturbing voice rang out from all around them, "Eight points. Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my kill point?" Zabuza taunted them.

Kakashi didn't move, until he made a Jutsu sign, and his chakra started to become visible.

Sasuke began to doubt what was happening, the fear and terror getting to him. He struggled with the reality of what was right before his eyes. He never thought his teacher could be so ruthless, so blood thirsty. He needed to do something, end it before he went mad. He lifted his kunai to nearly reach his own skin.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi called out his name in such a tone that it broke Sasuke free of the state he was in, "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life, all of you. I will not allow my comrades to die, trust me." He turned his head to smile at them beneath his mask.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Zabuza said, appearing behind the three Genin and separating them from Tazuna. He stood straight, "It's over."

Kakashi turned around and saw, running at Zabuza and stabbing him in the gut with a kunai. But instead of blood, there was water dripping from the wound.

The real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, and Naruto called out to him, warning him.

Kakashi turned around as Zabuza swung his huge blade, "Die!" and cut Kakashi in half. But a look of irritation crossed his features as the same thing that had happened with his own clone, happened with Kakashi. There was no blood or body parts, just water.

Zabuza was stunned, frozen, angry that his own Jutsu was used against him.

Kakashi stood behind him with a kunai, raising it to his throat. "Don't move."

Everyone stood still a moment, completely captivated by what was happening in front of them. The three students then began to smile at the fact their sensei was obviously so powerful.

Sasuke started turning his head around, "Where the hell is Sandā, anyway?" he said to himself.

"Now it's over. You're finished." Kakashi said, keeping still until Zabuza started laughing.

"Finished? You really don't get it, do you? Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation, I'll never be defeated by a mere copycat ninja like you." Zabuza continued to laugh.

Kakashi growled in anger, his grip tightening on the kunai.

"You are full of surprises, though. You'd already copied my Water Clone Jutsu when you made your little speech. Very skillfully executed. You made your clone say those words, to draw my attention, while you hid in the mist, waiting for me to make my move… nice try… but I'm not that easy to fool." While Zabuza was talking, there was another Zabuza that appeared behind Kakashi.

The Zabuza that Kakashi had his kunai on exploded into water, while he turned around and was faced with the real Zabuza.

"Hey! That one's a clone, too!" Naruto yelled.

Zabuza pulled out a kunai, making quick aim for Kakashi's jugular, only to be stopped by Erina.

"Huh?" Zabuza was caught with his wrist being held tightly by Erina, anger purely seen on her face.

"Don't touch him." She said simply, gripping Zabuza's wrist so tightly he thought it may fracture. He stepped back fast enough that he was able to release her grip, watching and studying his new opponent.

"So, The Copy Ninja has a toy, huh?" Zabuza mused.

Kakashi grimaced at the comment, but Erina didn't react, simply standing in front of Kakashi, her five — foot — four height allowing him to see easily over her head. Zabuza waited, patiently.

They didn't move, unless Zabuza did. He wasn't going to initiate an attack so quickly against an unknown ninja. She seemed dangerous. The fact that she was able to stop his attack with one hand was impressive in and of itself. He would expect nothing less of Kakashi, only having the best.

He walked around his blade slowly, keeping an eye on both of them. He watched their movements. Anytime Kakashi made the slightest movement or step, the woman mirrored him perfectly. She stood as tall as she could, protecting her partner. Zabuza wanted to see what would happen if he looked like he was going for an attack, and went to lift his hand to the handle of the blade again, staring as the woman kept eye contact with him, compensating to defend Kakashi where he was exposed. He realized then that she was always covering his neck, literally. Not once since she intervened was Kakashi's neck exposed, she would watch their opponent, study them and learn their ways. She often stretched her head to cover more of Kakashi's neck while keeping an eye on Zabuza.

"What do they call you?" he asked, walking closer.

Kakashi and Erina stepped back simultaneously, Kakashi's hand going to her hip.

"I'm known as Sandā." She said simply. She spoke through a red mask covered in crosses from one side to the other, one hand stretching behind her to hold Kakashi close, the other over the hand Kakashi had on her hip.

Zabuza had never seen such a thing, such perfect unison. "Sandā, huh? That's not a real name, is it? Just an alias I assume."

"You'd be correct in that assumption."

"The fact that you have an alias must mean that you have a price on your head. I'll get paid double what I was promised if I take you down as well." He went for an opening he thought he saw, swinging his blade dangerously for her. But Kakashi wrapped his arms around her and jumped away, avoiding the weapon.

The rogue ninja was getting irritated, he swung again, this time Erina gripped the handle and dug the large blade into the ground. She reached for one of the kunai's around her throat, he had to assume she had something on them, they couldn't be just regular kunai's. He jumped away and she lowered her hand again, returning to her position in front of Kakashi.

Zabuza than jumped to land on top of his blade, pulling it free and aiming for Kakashi now.

Zabuza had his blade far behind him, gaining momentum with each inch he got closer to Kakashi, to slice him in half. Kakashi ducked with Erina mirroring him, just barely dodging the sharp edge, the end of it sticking into the ground again.

Zabuza released his right hand on the handle and put his left hand on it to give him the power he needed to aim a kick right in Erina's chest, sending her and Kakashi flying.

"Now!" Zabuza gripped the handle and tore the blade from the ground, running after Kakashi with tremendous speed.

"Huh? Makibishi Spikes!" Zabuza stopped dead in his tracks, narrowly avoiding the trap Kakashi had set. "Trying to slow me down? Foolish." Zabuza started talking to no one in particular. He turned around and jumped into the water backwards, disappearing.

Kakashi and Erina surfaced, their clothes sticking to them.

"Kashi." She only had to say his name, indicating something was wrong.

_This isn't normal water, its dense, heavy. _Kakashi thought as he turned to Erina.

Zabuza appeared behind them, his hands making Jutsu signs, "Fools." He said with a grin under the tape that covered his face. "Water Prison Jutsu."

Kakashi turned to Erina, "No!" he tried to move, but he was then floating in the air in a round prism of water, Erina on the other side of Zabuza, but he saw she was able to get away before the water could touch her.

She jumped over to the three Genin, looking over to Kakashi.

Zabuza laughed again, "This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel, it's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi. I'll finish you off later, but first…" he turned to face the others that were on land.

He summoned a water clone, "You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja. When you've hovered between life and death so many times, it doesn't faze you, then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly, your profile is entered in my bingo book, then you may have earned the title 'ninja'. But to call upstarts like you ninja, is a joke." The mist thickened, concealing Zabuza.

"He disappeared again." Naruto worried.

Erina stepped back to get closer to the three of them, "Stay behind me."

But Zabuza was faster, making a quick kick to Naruto's head, sending him flying back and his head band landing on the ground, the clone stepping on it. "You're just brats."

Kakashi growled, "Listen, get the bridge builder and run, you can't win this fight."

Erina turned towards the students, "He's using all his power to keep Kakashi in that prison, so he can only fight you with his water clone, but the clone can't go far from his real body, if you get away from him, it can't follow. Now run!" she turned away, ready to fight Zabuza on her own.

"What about you?" Sakura asked.

"I'm not leaving Kakashi. We've been through worse."

She readied herself, but Sasuke suddenly ran past her.

"Sasuke, stop!"

He ignored her, throwing five shuriken at Zabuza. But the rogue ninja was able to easily wipe them away with a simple swing of his blade; Sasuke jumped high into the air, his arms over his head, aiming for Zabuza now.

"Too easy," Zabuza said, bored.

He reached up and gripped the Genin with a hand around his throat, throwing him towards Erina.

She reached out and grabbed him, being pushed back a few feet, but dug her heels into the ground and held him upright.

Zabuza then turned his focus on Naruto, who tried to get away, placing his left hand on the ground. The pressure that he put on it caught him off guard, stunning him for a moment.

Erina gasped in pain as well, gripping her left hand. "Damn it." She said, looking over to Naruto. She watched as the features on his face turned from genuine fear for his life, to anger and determination.

_He's remembering…_ she watched as the memories nearly danced before Naruto's eyes.

He stood on wobbly feet and tightened his hand into a fist, causing Erina to feel even more pain in her own.

She gripped it tightly, trying to ignore it.

Naruto made a run for the clone, no weapon or plan of any kind.

Kakashi gasped, "Naruto, no!"

Naruto was met with a kick to the face, rolling backward a bunch of times until Erina came up and stopped him, holding his arms to keep him steady.

Sakura started to yell at him, telling him how foolish he was considering the fact that even Sasuke couldn't touch Zabuza.

Erina saw what Naruto held in his hand, "Sakura, stop." She said, silencing the female student.

Naruto started to rise, holding the head band in his injured hand, he placed it back on his forehead. Zabuza watched, shaking with anger.

Erina leaned down to Naruto's ear, "You've rattled him. Don't stop." She could see the emotion behind Zabuza's eyes, hard as he tried to conceal it.

Naruto nodded, "Alright Sasuke, listen up. You hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you." Sasuke said, watching his team mate.

"I've got a plan."

Sasuke watched as Erina walked to stand in front of him, leaning over to now whisper in Sasuke's ear. "Trust him." She stood and walked past him, standing next to Sakura, guarding Tazuna. She kept eye contact with Kakashi, and nodded her head to him.

"What are you doing? I told you to run!" Kakashi yelled. "This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now take off! Your mission is not to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder. Stay on mission!"

_They can do this, Kashi. Trust them. _Erina stayed beside Sakura.

"Bridge builder?" Naruto turned around, asking for permission to stay and defend their sensei.

"Well I guess this all happened because of me. Because of my desire to live, but I won't let that stand in your way now. Do what you have to do, go and fight to save your sensei."

Zabuza started laughing again, "You really haven't learned anything, have you? Still playing your little game, pretending to be ninja. When I was your age, this hand had already crushed many opponents."

Kakashi turned his head towards the real Zabuza.

"Zabuza The Demon." He whispered.

"Oh, so I was in your book too, huh? Zabuza smiled.

Erina spoke up, "Long ago, in the Village Hidden in the Mist, also known as Blood Mist Village, before a student could become a ninja, there was one final test."

The clone turned its eyes to her, "You know about the graduation exam?"

"What graduation exam?" Naruto asked.

The clone started laughing, "What's the big deal? We had graduation tests, too." Naruto almost pouted.

He continued laughing, "Did you have to kill the other students to pass?"

Naruto gasped.

"Imagine, young ninja like you, eating together, training together, and then comes the final exam, only they changed the rules. Kill or be killed. You can't stop while your opponent still breathes. He was your friend, shared your dreams. Now it's him or you." Zabuza explained.

"That's so cruel…" Sakura said quietly.

"Ten years ago, in the Village Hidden in the Mist, the graduation exam changed. One year before, a dark evil had filled the school with terror." Erina said on a hushed tone.

"What are you saying? What evil?" Sakura asked.

"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja approached the class, and took down over a hundred other students… you're now looking at that boy." Erina said flicking her gaze over to Zabuza.

"…It felt so… good." Zabuza met the eyes of Sasuke and Naruto, terrifying them with his blood lust. The clone made a move and elbowed Sasuke in the stomach, sending him flying to land on the ground. The clone followed, his elbow to come crashing down on the same spot again. Sasuke coughed up blood, Zabuza's foot now coming to push repeatedly on the spot he had hit twice. "You're nothing." He said.

Erina watched Kakashi's reaction, his anger becoming more and more prominent.

"Stop right there!" Naruto called out, summoning his Multi – Clone Shadow Jutsu.

The multiple Naruto's descended on Zabuza and covered him in a cage, while Sasuke got up and Erina ran over to him, helping him stand. But Zabuza quickly swung his blade and made all the clones disappear, sending the real Naruto back.

He swung his back pack around to his front, digging inside and called out Sasuke's name. Sasuke met Erina's eyes, questions begging to be answered. He was confused and scared for the first time in his life.

"Do it, Sasuke. Now." She jumped away and allowed Sasuke to jump into the air to grip the large shuriken Naruto had thrown to him, landing on his feet smoothly.

"Shuriken? You won't be able to touch me with that." Zabuza taunted Sasuke.

The Genin jumped high and descended on Zabuza, but instead, he aimed for the real one. The rogue ninja reached his free hand out and caught the shuriken easily, nearly laughing at their attempt. "I told you a shuriken can't touch me." But when he raised his head, he saw another shuriken was coming for him, and he had no way to catch it. Thinking quickly, Zabuza jumped, barely missing the blades.

The weapon continued past Zabuza, transforming into Naruto, hovering over the water for a moment and quickly threw a kunai at the real Zabuza.

It was aimed for his face; he had no choice but to move or would be killed. He quickly pulled his arm free from the prison holding Kakashi. When he turned around, Erina was standing beside Naruto, guarding him closely. There was a single scratch on Zabuza's face, the anger rolling off him in waves to Erina, and she felt it as if it were her own.

Naruto was still hovering just barely over the water, about to land in it, but not quick enough, Zabuza held the shuriken he had caught and aimed for Naruto with rage.

"I'll destroy you!" he called out.

Erina adjusted her stance and defended the Genin, prepared to completely take the hit. Zabuza held the weapon high and aimed straight for her neck, but when he struck, he didn't feel soft flesh beneath the blades. They were stopped.

Blood spattered in the air and landed in the water, the shuriken now embedded in Kakashi's hand he held up to stop a single blade, covered in water. His head was down, but Erina could feel the rage coming from him as well. She had to take a couple deep breaths to calm herself down, to not feed off the emotions.

Naruto landed in the water with a splash and Kakashi lifted his head to glare at Zabuza.

"Don't… touch… her…" he nearly whispered. He reached his free hand back to pull Erina close behind him, knowing Naruto was safe.

Naruto quickly emerged from the water, shaking his head free of drops.

"Naruto, that was an excellent plan. You've really grown, haven't you?" Kakashi praised him.

"Hm, I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison." Zabuza huffed.

"Don't flatter yourself. You weren't distracted, you were forced to let go." Kakashi said, not allowing his eyes to leave Zabuza. "Your technique worked on me once… but it won't work again." He still held his hand up to the blade. "So, what's it going to be?"

Erina began to slowly step in front of Kakashi, knowing Zabuza couldn't lay a finger on her at the moment. She could see he was thinking, trying to plan his next move.

Zabuza grunted and flicked the shuriken to make all the blades go onto Kakashi's hand, digging in and causing more blood loss. Kakashi struggled against the force and whispered down to Erina. "Go."

She didn't respond, but jumped away, landing where the others were again.

Kakashi was able to push the shuriken away into the air, mimicking Zabuza's movements as he jumped back as well.

Zabuza then started to make hand signs, speaking the Jutsu out loud. Erina calmed down, watching the students.

"The sharingan." Sasuke watched, amazed.

Erina stepped beside him, "You're about to see why he was given the title 'Copy Ninja'."

Zabuza continued with his hand signs, Kakashi copying them instantaneously, one would think they rehearsed it.

"Ushi, saru, u. Ne, inoshishi, tori, ushi. Uma, tori, ne, tora. Inu, tora, mi, ushi, hitsuji. Mi, inoshishi, hitsuji ne. Jin, saru, tori, tatsu. Tori, ushi, uma, hitsuji. Tora, mi, ne, saru. U, inoshishi, tatsu, hitsuji. Tora, mi, ne, saru. U, inoshishi, tatsu, hitsuji. Ne, ushi, saru, tori. Jin, ne, inoshishi… Tori." Kakashi mimicked every movement and word Zabuza did, down to the finest detail.

Two heads began to rise from the water, both of their Water style Jutsu's coming to life in perfect unison.

The dragons began to fight, causing water to become disturbed and waves began to form, tossing Naruto around and splashing a huge wave onto shore and hitting the others. The students watched on in amazement, while Kakashi held a kunai up to block Zabuza's enormous blade.

Erina could see Zabuza's facial expression, therefore see what he was feeling. He was scared, confused and angry. Dangerous combinations for someone that was unpredictable like Zabuza. But he was shaken, whether it was from the fact he was outsmarted by three Genin, or Kakashi's sharingan, she wasn't sure. But she had a feeling the battle was drawing to a close. Even though Zabuza knew how the sharingan worked, he was too stunned to see his own Ninjutsu reflected back at him.

Erina felt a very calm chakra manifest a few hundred feet behind her. She didn't turn around, but kept a close eye on it. It didn't seem threatening, just calm and watchful.

Kakashi and Zabuza soon broke apart, watching each other for a moment. Zabuza then began to run in a half circle, Kakashi mirroring his every move.

Sakura watched, astounded. She asked Sasuke how this was possible, but he didn't respond.

"Like I said, this is why he's called 'The Copy Ninja'. He earned that title with this ability. It wasn't something he was born with, it's something he worked for." Erina said on a quiet tone.

She watched her partner carefully, reading his chakra and emotions, in case he needed help. He was collected and analytical right now, he was focused. He didn't need her assistance.

"Going to do next?" Kakashi said suddenly, continuing to copy Zabuza's seemingly random movements.

The fear was so plain on Zabuza's face, Erina didn't need her mind to see it. He was terrified. He obviously didn't know the other half of the sharingan like he had claimed.

"It makes you furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi said with a mocking voice.

"All you're doing is copying me… like a monkey!"

"You can't beat me with cheap tricks! I'll crush you!" Kakashi spoke with Zabuza at the exact same time, their voices melding together.

The horror was plain on Zabuza's face, "When I finish with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!"

Zabuza made some more hand signs, then stopped, staring behind Kakashi. Erina knew what he saw, she witnessed these multiple times, even asked Kakashi to use it on her a couple times. Zabuza was staring at an image of himself behind Kakashi, giving the illusion that he was literally becoming his own opponent.

Kakashi finished the hand signs and summoned the water vortex, it spiraled beneath them, forming a circle around Kakashi than aimed straight for Zabuza.

"Impossible!" Zabuza cried out as the water hit him hard, slamming him against a tree.

Naruto got tossed around in the water more until he was washed up onto land, stepping with sopping shoes to walk towards the others. Erina stood in front of Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna, shielding them as best she could from the wave.

She felt the calm chakra quickly change to frustration and worry, glancing behind her to a figure quickly disappearing in the wind and mist.

"Stay here." She instructed, jumping to land in front of Zabuza, throwing four kunai at him, landing one in each of his arms and legs. He was now pinned to the tree, she jumped up to the branch where Kakashi was perched, Zabuza's cries reaching her ears. She felt the pain she put him through, but had to bear it.

"You're finished." Kakashi said, standing and turning to stand behind Erina once again, taking their normal stance. Even though the threat seemed to be eliminated, she still stood protectively in front of Kakashi, unsure of what to think of that one ninja she saw observing them. They weren't enemy and yet they weren't ally.

She backed into Kakashi's chest, feeling his hand come up to wrap around her defensively, her head landing on his shoulder, ensuring his shield, while she looked down at the rogue ninja. She waited.

"How?" Zabuza asked with anger. "Can you see into the future?"

Erina had to hold back a laugh. Zabuza was so caught up in what actually happened and the amazement of it all, he did what everyone else always does. He stopped thinking about it logically, and allowed his mind to become completely warped by the sharingan.

"Yes." Kakashi taunted, "This is your last battle…ever." He raised a kunai knife, ready to give the final strike.

Erina jumped backwards and he instinctually followed her movement, jumping down to the bottom branch. Something had set her off.

He saw Zabuza was now lying on the ground with two needles sticking out of his neck. He gasped and turned around to face the person that had thrown them.

There was a single person standing on a tree a few feet away from them.

Erina felt the emotions. They were calm again, steady and calculating.

Kakashi went to make a move, but she held his hand firmly against her hip. He looked back at her with question in his eyes, but she didn't take her gaze off the sudden intruder.

He trusted her judgement, and stayed where he was.

There was a silent laugh, "You were right. It was his last battle."

Erina slowly released Kakashi's hand, met his gaze for a moment, and jumped down to Zabuza, feeling for a pulse. She didn't even feel any chakra signatures or emotions coming from him anymore.

She glanced up to her partner and gave a nod. They then both glanced at the person, they wore a mask that completely concealed their face. It seemed to be made of porcelain. They bowed to the Jōnin and Genin.

"Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time. Waiting for this chance to finally take him down."

"By your mask, I see that you're a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said, weary.

"Impressive. You're well informed." They responded with a slightly amused manner. "That's correct, I'm a member of the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza."

_From his size and voice… he must be the same age as Naruto… yet he's an elite assassin… _Kakashi watched him carefully. _He's no ordinary kid… but what is he?_

Naruto ran up to beneath the tree, staring up at the ninja, glancing back and forth between Zabuza's body and the young boy.

Erina could feel his anger and hurt.

"What is this? Who do you think you are?" he shouted with such anger; he scared his team mates.

The stranger didn't respond, only watched.

"Did you hear me?" Naruto continued to shout.

Kakashi stood, "Easy Naruto, he's not our enemy."

"That's not the point! Did you see what he did just like that? Zabuza was huge and powerful, like some kind of monster. And this kid, who's no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza with one move, like it was nothing. I mean, what does that make us? We're just fumbling around; we don't know anything! How can I accept that?"

Kakashi walked over to Naruto, "Well, even if you don't accept it, still, it did happen, Naruto." He placed his hand on Naruto's head, "In this world, there are kids who are younger than you, and yet stronger than me." He stayed near Naruto.

Erina watched as the stranger disappeared and reappeared beside Zabuza, lifting the body, "Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body. They must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please excuse me, farewell." The boy disappeared again, taking the body with him.

_For now?..._ Erina stared at the place they had disappeared from, contemplating his words.

Kakashi sighed and pulled his headband back over his left eye, covering his sharingan.

Naruto ran over to the place the two had disappeared from.

"He's gone Naruto." Kakashi said, "Let it go."

Naruto groaned in anger, kneeling on his knees to punch the ground repeatedly. "What are we doing here? We're nothing, I can't believe it!" he kept punching the ground, trying to take his frustration out on anything.

Erina jumped down to stop him, feeling his pain like it was her own, her left — hand throbbing. She stood in front of him, lifting him gently, looking into eyes eye's, "Stop." She whispered.

Kakashi walked up behind them, "As ninja, things we encounter are never easy, save your anger, for the next enemy." He turned to the other two students and their client, "We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the bridge builder to his bridge."

Erina walked up beside Kakashi, while Naruto started walking to the others.

"Kashi. I don't like this."

"What happened?" he asked, lowering his voice so the others wouldn't hear.

"We both know tracker ninja are required to immediately work on a body, so it doesn't get contaminated with other DNA, there's no room for error. That boy didn't follow the protocol. And another thing… he was watching the fight near the end before he made himself known. If he really was tracking Zabuza, then he would have interfered immediately, but he waited, watched us fight. He was analyzing us. You know what that means."

Kakashi nodded.

"We need to be prepared. This isn't over, and the next time is going to be a lot more difficult, we may have been able to gather information of Zabuza's fighting ways, but he also gathered information on ours. We won't have the element of surprise next time."

"What did you feel from him?"

She met his gaze, "I could only feel his chakra signature, he was calm, collected, and extremely analytical. I couldn't get a read on that boy's emotions because of the mask. He kept his tone so perfectly controlled; I couldn't feel any of his emotions; I don't like any of this. But if he was already actually tracking Zabuza, and considering the fact they're from the same village, he should have already known of Zabuza's abilities. Which makes me think he was watching us, studying us to relay the information back to someone. I'm thinking Zabuza."

"Even though you felt for a pulse?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"The neck is tricky; you can put someone in a temporary death. You just have to hit the proper points." She reached her hand up and wrapped her fingers around his neck from the side, gently holding him, "Why do you think I protect your neck all the time?"

He smiled down at her, resisting the urge to pull away her mask and kiss her. "Then why are you waiting until now to tell me this?"

"Because we need to rest and gather our strength back. The others are exhausted, and you're about to collapse." She released his neck and stepped away.

"Oh please, I'm just fine." He turned to the others, "All right, let's get a move on." He started walking away, only to stop after a few steps, shaking.

He froze for a moment, and Erina sighed in irritation.

She walked over and stepped in front of him, letting him collapse on her back.

"What happened?" Sakura cried out, Naruto and Sakura crowding around them.

"He's fine, just stupid." Erina said, hoisting him up on her back, trying to make him comfortable. "He just used up way too much of his chakra, and the sharingan isn't exactly an easy thing to wield." She looked back at his now unconscious face, "'Just fine', I hate when you try to lie to me." She mumbled.

The students tried to offer help, but Erina insisted she was fine carrying him on her own. This happened more often than Kakashi wanted to admit, another reason why Erina was such an asset to him.

They walked quickly to Tazuna's house, making quick introductions to his daughter while Erina took Kakashi upstairs, asking the students to stay downstairs with Tazuna while she inspected Kakashi for any wounds. She didn't see him get hit, but that didn't always mean there weren't any injuries. Especially against someone like Zabuza. She blocked the door behind her for good measure.

She lay him down on the bed she quickly made up for him, removing his head band and pulling down his mask. She unzipped his Jōnin jacket and started to pull his shirt off. She started inspecting his arms, pushing and pressing to see if there was any reaction in his facial expression. She had to assume there were no injuries on his arms since he didn't react.

She looked at his chest, seeing all the scars and markings on him, remembering all the battles they'd been through together. She could see each scar and tell the tale of how Kakashi got it, always right there beside him when he received them.

She pressed and pushed into his chest, feeling his heart beat steady and clear.

"You're damn lucky, Kashi." She mumbled, finished with inspecting his chest, putting his shirt back on and pulling his mask up to cover his face again, finishing with placing his head protector back over his eye.

She watched him rest and sighed, removing her own mask and placing it on the floor beside them. She headed to the door to unblock it, knowing their students would want to make sure he was okay. She walked to stand over his head, sitting down behind him, and lifting his head to rest in her lap. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, thinking.

_Who was that boy? Why was he so protective of Zabuza? There was no documentation of any living family for him, why would someone care so much to get him to safety?_ She got caught up in her own thoughts, she only realized Kakashi was waking up when he groaned.

"Serves you right." She said, looking down on him from her sitting position.

"Ugh… not now, please." He turned over and closed his eyes again, getting comfortable.

She smiled, "Fine. I'll yell at you later." She said quietly, allowing him to rest, her fingers combing through his soft hair and calming him.

He allowed her scent to envelope him, being reminded of home.

The peace didn't last very long, Naruto bursting in through the door, yelling to make sure Kakashi wasn't dead.

Kakashi groaned again, "I think I overdid it with my sharingan." He turned onto his back again.

"Are you alright, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I've been better, it'll be a week before I can move normally." He groaned, sitting up, but Erina pushed him back down again.

"You're not leaving this spot for several hours, Kashi. And don't argue with me."

He sighed, "Right."

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto gathered around them, curious.

Erina leaned back against the wall again, closing her eyes.

"You know that boy with the mask? What about him?" Sakura asked.

"He's from the elite tracking unit from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi." Erina said.

"What exactly do they do?" Sakura continued.

"The ANBU Black Ops, also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets, Ninjutsu, chakra, special medicine used on his body. These are the secrets of his village, if his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy, he would try to analyze my sharingan. In the worst case, my entire Jutsu could be stolen and used against our whole village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this, to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty." Kakashi explained, slightly groaning from time to time. Erina leaned forward slightly to adjust his head, letting him become more comfortable. She began rubbing his shoulders with her fingers, hardly touching him yet making him calm. It also helped to calm her nerves, too. Now that they established this boy wasn't who he claimed to be; she was on edge.

Kakashi stopped talking, completely missing the questions coming from the others, distracted with what Erina was also thinking.

"Hey, are you okay? Sensei?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. To finish what I was saying, tracker ninja deal with a body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

"Is that really important?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Think about it. Do you remember what that tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

"We don't know what he did. I mean, I guess he took it away somewhere."

"Exactly, but why? He should have worked on Zabuza right there. As quickly as possible. Think of the weapons he used for the take down. Do you remember what they were?" he asked the students, watching them think.

"Throwing needles." Sasuke answered. "No way." Sasuke realized what Kakashi was getting at.

"I don't understand." Sakura said.

"He's telling you to connect the dots, Sakura. Can you?" Erina looked towards her.

Sakura thought for a moment, trying to see where they were being led, what big conclusion was waiting for them.

"They don't add up, Sakura. That's the point." Erina looked down to Kakashi, worry lining her features now.

"Exactly. None of it adds up." Kakashi repeated.

"What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin." Tazuna joined in.

"No, we didn't. It wasn't a genuine kill. Whoever that boy was, he aimed for the pressure points in Zabuza's neck to give the illusion of death, he didn't hit the jugular. If he had, there would have been blood pouring from Zabuza's mouth. The neck is the most exposed part on the body, and the easiest point to make a kill. There's no layer of muscle, it's just tissue. One little nick is all it would take in the right place."

Kakashi finished for Erina at this point, "Here's the truth, Zabuza's still alive." He said simply.

"But we saw his body!" Naruto argued.

"Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body, causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them. First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though its much heavier than he is. Second, he used Senbon, which have a precise effect, but are rarely fatal. From these two factors, we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza, he was trying to save him."

"Come on, you're over thinking this, aren't you?" Tazuna asked.

"Encountering suspicion, the ninja prepares quickly, hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying." Kakashi finished, watching Naruto now shaking with excitement.

_He's actually pleased to hear Zabuza's alive, now Naruto's got another shot at it._

"Sensei, you said 'prepare quickly', but how can we do that when you can barely move?" Sakura asked.

Erina turned towards them, "He can still teach you with instruction, while I give physical demonstrations. It'll be fine."

"Sandā's right, this won't be a problem to your training. But this is going to be difficult, we don't have long to prepare. Zabuza is injured as well, he'll need time to recover, but we need to use that time to our advantage." Kakashi said, laying back down in Erina's lap.

"Don't worry, Kakashi sensei, things are going to be better, you'll see." Naruto said with a smile.

"I don't believe it, and nothing's going to be good." Came a small voice from the doorway.

Everyone turned their attention to a young boy standing there, fists at this side, watching them.

_Why is he so angry?_ Erina wondered, hearing his voice but being the only one to not turn to him.

"Inari, where have you been?" Tazuna opened his arms and the young boy ran into them,

"Welcome back, grandpa." He said, running in for a hug.

"Inari, that was very rude." His mother chastised him. "These ninjas helped your grandpa and brought him here safely."

"Mom, don't you see these people are going to die, Gato and his men will come back and wipe them out." Inari turned to his mother, looking up at her.

"What did you say, brat?" Naruto stood, angry now. "Gato is no match for a real hero like me!"

"There's no such thing as a hero, you're just full of stupid ideas." Inari stood up to Naruto.

The Genin started to walk towards the young boy, intent on teaching him a lesson, but Sakura held him back.

"If you wanna stay alive, you should go back where you came from." He walked away with that final comment.

"Inari, wait, where are you going?" Tazuna asked.

"To look out at the ocean, I want to be alone!"

Erina looked over to the young boy for the first time, and met his eyes.

She gasped, choking, the pain in her chest too much. She started panting, curling over Kakashi's head.

"Sandā, what happened?" Kakashi tried to sit up as quickly as he could, holding her hands while she panted and struggled to breathe.

Kakashi turned towards the others, "I'm sorry, would you give us a few moments?"

The three students paused, staring as Erina started to groan, sounding like she was in pain.

"She's going to be alright; she just needs a few minutes." Kakashi said, giving them a small smile behind his mask.

They all stood and headed for the door, filing out one by one. Sasuke was the last to leave, staring behind him.

"Sasuke, please." Kakashi said, not turning around to look at his student.

Sasuke turned away and shut the door.

Kakashi felt Erina grip his hand tightly, her groaning becoming louder.

"Erina, talk to me, what happened?" he could see the tears streaming down her cheeks, her grip tightening even more. Her breathing wasn't slowing down, he felt her pulse with his fingers in her wrist, it was much too fast.

"Erina, look at me." He ordered in a demanding tone, gripping her chin and raising her head up to meet his eyes. "Just look at me." He whispered, keeping her gaze.

He let her feel his happiness, the comfort that he always got when he was around her. He filled his thoughts with home and the comfortable things they always did together, whether it was reading on the couch, going for a walk or cooking dinner together.

Her breathing started to slow, her ability making sure her brain was focusing on the first thing that was in front of her. She felt the happiness and allowed it to consume her. She panted and leaned into Kakashi's chest. He held her and placed his hand on her soft hair.

"What did you feel from the boy?"

She still gasped slightly, "So much pain, Kashi. I've never seen so much pain in someone so young. It was like my heart was being ripped out, nothing but sorrow filling my every thought." She raised her head to meet his eyes again. "We have to help them. That boy, he's lost someone that meant everything to him. We can't let this mission go unfinished, even if it wasn't in the report. We need to make sure that bridge is built and Gato is dealt with. That little boy witnessed something horrific, and I don't ever want him to feel it again." She whispered, nearly crying again.

He wiped her tears away, holding her close with both his hands, tilting her head back. "We will." He assured her. He could see the exhaustion on her face, just the emotion from that little boy alone was enough to drain her.

"Do you need time? He asked.

She shook her head, "No, just let me rest for a while." She said, as he leaned his forehead forward and touched hers, breathing her in.

"I'm right here." He promised.

She nodded, thankful for his understanding.

The three Genin knocked on the door before they came in, and Kakashi looked up as they opened it.

"She's alright, but would you guys mind giving us a few hours before we continue with your training?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course, sensei." Sakura nodded, worry no longer on her face.

Naruto nodded as well, and Sasuke just silently observed, trying to solve the mystery of the woman in front of him, being held by Kakashi like she was something incredibly precious to him.

They all walked out again, descending the stairs and going outside to get a better idea of the land.

"Here." Kakashi lifted his fingers to her jacket and began to unzip it, wanting to make her as comfortable as possible. He couldn't allow her abilities to weaken her right now, the students needed at least one teacher that was fully able to defend and teach them.

She removed her one necklace with her kunai knives and placed it next to her mask, where he then placed her jacket. He held the covers open for her as she joined him in the bed, now wearing only her bra and pants. But he felt no arousal at this time, he simply wanted to keep her safe. He hadn't seen her react like that in a long time. And the fact it was from a little boy, made it so much worse for her. Children were only feeling things like that for the very first time in their lives, so it was magnified by nearly a hundred for them, not having anything to compare it to.

She settled beside him and curled into his chest, seeking his warmth and protection. He wrapped his arms around her and slid his mask down. His arms wound around her completely, holding her tightly. Her breathing was calmer now, her exhaustion taking over.

Within a few minutes, she was unconscious. He placed his lips against her hair and closed his eyes, promising to himself that he would keep her safe.

Even if Zabuza was a wild card at this point, he had to believe they would be okay.


	3. Demon in the Snow

After Kakashi and Erina had rested for a few hours, they walked with the Genin into a nearby forest, having spoken previously of their plan to show their students how to possibly win against Zabuza while Kakashi was partially out of the picture.

They all gathered around a clearing and formed a circle, the three young students watching both their sensei with intent and curiosity, Kakashi holding one crutch under each arm.

"Alright, training starts now." He instructed.

"Right!" Naruto grew even more eager.

"First, we will begin with a review of chakra, a ninja's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential."

"We know that." Sasuke mumbled, irritated already.

"He's right. A long time ago we learned about… catra." Naruto quipped.

"…Chakra." Kakashi corrected with his head hanging in partial disappointment. He lifted a hand to Sakura. "Go ahead, Sakura."

Erina stepped back and leaned against a tree, studying her students.

"Alright, Naruto. I'll explain it simply so you can understand it." Sakura started to explain the essential importance of chakra and how vital it was to each and every ninja; that without it, you were basically defenseless; except in rare circumstances.

Kakashi listened to make sure she didn't miss any information, "Right on all points. Iruka sensei really did have some excellent students." He said with pride.

Sakura soaked in the praise.

"Bah! What's the big deal with all these complicated explanations? The whole point is to learn the Jutsu, isn't it?" Naruto argued.

"He's right for once." Sasuke glared at Kakashi. "We're already using chakra energy in our Jutsu."

Erina stood from the tree, walking towards them. "No, you've not mastered this power, you've barely scratched the surface of it."

"What do you mean?" Naruto yelled at her.

"Calm down and listen, Naruto. It's just like Sakura said, you have to draw on physical and spiritual energies and then combine them within yourself… But, how do you do that?" she hinted, meeting Sasuke's gaze. She could tell he was getting angrier, wanting to get to the point if it was genuinely worth his time. "Each Jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way, up to now you've just guessed at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless. The Jutsu won't work at all or you'll end up looking like a joke. You waste so much energy that way, then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all, you're just a target." She ended the explanation while watching Naruto take in what she was saying.

"Uh… so how do we change that?" he asked timidly.

"Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature. To achieve this goal, you must be ready to put your life on the line." Kakashi said with a grim tone.

The three Genin waited a moment, and Sakura asked what exactly they have to do.

Kakashi gave a small laugh, "Climb a tree."

They all repeated him in somewhat amazement yet also disbelief. No way something so easily accomplished could have anything to do with precise chakra control.

"That's right. But, there's just one rule… no hands." Kakashi lifted his hands from the crutches, to emphasize his point.

They all stared at him again, "What? You're kidding." Sakura said.

"Am I?" He smiled underneath his mask, making a hand sign. "Let's see."

Erina watched carefully as she saw his chakra form around his feet, and followed him with her eyes as he slowly walked over to the nearest tree, with the aid of his crutches, placed one foot on the trunk first, and started to climb up.

She kept a close eye on his chakra levels and how in control he was, it had only been hours since they had fought and he was still extremely drained.

Kakashi eventually stood standing on a branch upside down, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura watching on in amazement.

"Well, you get the idea." He said, standing still now.

Erina walked to stand directly underneath him. "Focus the chakra to the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra."

"Wait a minute, that's a nice trick, but how does it help us fight Zabuza?" Sakura raised her voice in anger.

"It's the only way to fight Zabuza." Kakashi said, "That's the entire goal of this training. First, you'll learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. This is difficult even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy, and the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this, you'll be able to master any Jutsu… well… theoretically."

Erina continued where Kakashi had left off. "The second point is to maintain your chakra levels, when a ninja is focused in battle, it's even harder to control and maintain his chakra levels, a deadly mistake. To avoid this, maintaining chakra must become second nature. Effortless."

Kakashi held three kunai in his hand and threw them to the three Genin's feet, sticking them in the ground.

"Use the kunai knife to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb, without using your hands. Then try to get past that mark the next time and the next. At first, you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible, until you get used to it. Ready?" Kakashi continued to watch all three of them from the tree branch.

They picked up the kunai's, Naruto starting to get excited again. "Remember what you said, sensei. I'm the one that's grown the most." Naruto remembered with glee.

"You're definitely the one who talks the most…" Kakashi mumbled. "Now get focused and do it!" he raised his voice to get them motivated.

Erina watched Naruto as he made his hand sign, his chakra becoming focused and controlled. She was impressed he was even able to become focused to such a fine point in such quick time. She expected him to have trouble focusing his mind. Sakura and Sasuke soon followed, all three of their chakra's focusing in sync.

They all ran to each of their tree's simultaneously, Naruto only getting two steps on to the trunk until he fell to the ground and hit his head.

She looked over to Sasuke and saw he got about ten feet up the trunk, until his foot made a dent in the wood and he broke his control, quickly slashing the bark to make the strike where he had fallen, making a back flip and landing on the ground gracefully.

He peered up at the tree in frustration, Erina could feel his emotions coursing through him with rapid pace, irritated that he didn't master it immediately.

_It's harder than it looks, Sasuke._ She continued to watch him carefully.

Kakashi still stood on the branch upside down, "That's about what I expected from Sasuke…" he spoke up to only Erina.

"And Naruto." She smiled, looking up at him.

"Hey, this is fun." A female voiced called out from high up in the trees, Sakura looking down at all four of them with her tongue sticking out.

"Well, looks like the female member of the squad has the most advanced chakra control." Kakashi said.

Erina looked to Sakura and gave her a genuine smile, "Great job, Sakura."

Erina looked to Naruto and Sasuke again, as Naruto praised Sakura, saying how much he admired her. She felt adoration and a slight twinge of jealousy coming from him. Erina smiled. When she met Sasuke's eyes, he had a grimace, when she felt his emotions there seemed to only be anger and frustration. But she went deeper, focused on his eyes, never looking away, and she then felt pride coming from him. She gave a small laugh and Sasuke glared at her.

Sasuke and Naruto made eye contact, and they immediately silently challenged each other.

_All right, I think they're motivated. Of course, Naruto and Sasuke have far more chakra within… if this training works, their mastery of chakra will become a valuable asset. _Kakashi thought to himself.

Naruto started talking to himself, claiming how he was going to match Sasuke first then get all the way to the top.

Erina paused, looking to a tree that hid a small figure behind it. She could feel that it was Inari, his emotions of constant pain, regret, guilt and darkness. But there was a new feeling with him today, as he watched the students train, Erina could feel that there was worry emanating from him. Worry for the young students not much older than him, scared they were going to lose their lives.

She looked away, not wanting to draw attention to him.

When she raised her eyes to Kakashi again, he nodded his head and let his chakra focus disappear from his feet, falling down gracefully and landing on them, with only a slight stumble. She gripped his arm and helped him walk back to the road, instructing Naruto and Sasuke to keep training.

"I want you to go lay down until dinner, Kashi. You shouldn't have even done that demonstration."

He turned to her, smiling under the fabric again, "I thought it might have a more visual impact if they saw someone on crutches doing it."

She returned his smile, "Alright, but go rest now. I'll send Sakura back and keep an eye on Naruto and Sasuke."

He nodded and walked towards the house, Erina returning to the clearing.

Naruto kept making very minor improvement, but still couldn't get enough chakra at the bottom of his feet to grip the tree properly.

Sasuke was in a similar situation, but managed to not dent the bark with too much chakra now. He looked at the tree, seeing the slashes he was making, so very little progress for his liking.

Sakura didn't really need to train, but Erina wanted to break it into her mind so that it became as easy as breathing. She laid on the ground, looking over at Naruto with an odd expression.

Naruto stood and stomped his foot, then walked over to Sakura, kneeling down to her and whispering.

"Hey, you're good at this. How about some advice?" he asked.

Sakura looked confused for a moment, contemplating his words.

Erina bowed her head and smiled, pride showing on her features.

_Kashi would be proud._ She mused to herself.

Erina eventually sent Sakura back to the house and stayed with the boys while they trained. She figured Kakashi would ask Sakura to guard Tazuna while he continued to build the bridge. She was the only one that mastered the training and he was still too wounded to be of any help.

All day Erina sat either up in the tree, watching them and studying their movements, chakra control and everything in between. They were both still only improving little by little. Their exhaustion beginning to take over.

"Why is it so hard?" Naruto yelled to himself.

Sasuke was on one knee and they both looked up at their trees. They were only slashed to the halfway point of the trunk, still not even reaching the branches.

They both looked at each other, stood at the same time, no words being spoken between them, and they started running again.

Erina sighed, _Yup, I'm definitely dragging two bodies home with me._

Night had nearly fallen now, and Sasuke was beginning to get ahead of Naruto by a couple feet.

She watched as Naruto began to feel anxious, but he quickly reined it in and started to focus, the chakra now being sent to his feet. He smiled, and started to run –

"Hey, Naruto." Sasuke broke Naruto's concentration and made him fall.

"Sasuke! What are you doing? I was trying to focus my chakra!" Naruto yelled, standing on his feet.

"Well uh… you know… the thing is…" Sasuke started mumbling.

Erina leaned forward, interested in this sudden show of humility from Sasuke.

"The thing is what?" Naruto responded with a grumpy tone, folding his arms across his chest.

Sasuke fidgeted and adjusted his stance a couple times, looking away. "You… you know… you asked Sakura for advice when she was here?... so, what did she tell you?" Sasuke couldn't look Naruto in the eyes as he asked.

Naruto was confused for a moment, but soon a mean smile started to show on his face while he looked at Sasuke. "I'm not telling you." He said with an attitude.

Sasuke jerked his head back to glare at Naruto, angry now.

"Come on guys, it's dark out. This training is better suited for daylight hours. Dinner should be ready soon, anyways." Erina said calmly, stepping between them and watching them turn away from each other without a word, walking back to the house.

When they arrived, dinner was just being served. They each took their seats, Naruto and Sasuke sitting across from one another while Erina sat beside Kakashi. Their hosts then began to serve bowls filled with vegetables and Naruto and Sasuke immediately started to inhale their food, hardly chewing at all.

Erina watched in amazement and anxiety.

_This won't be good._

They both finished their bowls at the same time, stood and asked for more, glaring at each other than looked away and puked.

Sakura stood, slamming her fists on the table, "Don't eat so much if you're going to puke it up!"

Sasuke turned to her, "I have to eat."

"And I have to eat more than him. It's the only way I can get strong enough to beat him." Naruto challenged.

Kakashi nodded, "That's true. But puking won't help."

Erina leaned back and sighed, "Are we done yet?" she moaned, tired already.

When everyone was finished with dinner, Sakura stood and walked around, noticing a picture on the wall that had the upper corner torn out, someone's face missing.

"Excuse me, this picture is torn. Is there some reason for that? Inari, you kept glancing at it all through dinner. It looks like someone else was in the picture, but they got torn out. That's kinda strange, isn't it?"

The question was innocent, but as soon as the words left Sakura's mouth, Erina felt the emotions of Inari, his mother and Tazuna shift to grief, anger and pain.

Kakashi shifted his gaze to her, watching her closely, noticing she tensed.

"It's my husband." Inari's mother quietly explained, not turning around.

"They used to call him a hero in this land." Tazuna said with pain in his voice.

Inari stood and walked away from the table without saying a word, his pain reaching Erina the most.

"Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari, you know that." She nearly yelled, slamming the door behind her.

No one said anything, the tension in the air thick, making the shinobi anxious. Erina tried to breathe deeply, thankful for the distance that was now separating her and Inari.

"Is there a story behind this?" Kakashi asked quietly.

Tazuna didn't raise his eyes, speaking on hushed tones. "He wasn't his real father. He came into our family later. And he brought so much happiness, he and Inari were very close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time…" Tazuna drifted off. "But then… all that ended." Tazuna's tears now fell to the table. "He never laughs or smiles anymore, ever since the day everything changed."

Erina couldn't take it, she had to leave, the pain was too much. She stood silently and walked out the door, heading to the water and jumped in, not caring if she soaked her clothes. She stayed out in the water as long as she needed to.

Tazuna continued telling the story of the man that arrived in the village, saved Inari from drowning, and taught everyone what courage was, what being a hero meant.

And how when Gato came to the village, and Inari's father stood up to him, he was brutally murdered in front of the entire village and Inari's young eyes.

Kakashi could feel his heart breaking for the young boy. He was glad Erina wasn't here to know this story. She already could feel so much of their pain. She didn't need to know the story yet.

Silence followed Tazuna's story, everyone paying their respects to the fallen man who gave his life to protect the people he cared about.

Naruto stood a few moments later… only to fall down again before he took a step.

"What are you doing down there, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"You better take the day off, no more training. You've used too much chakra. If you push any harder, it could kill you." Kakashi ordered.

"I'm going to prove it!" Naruto said while he stood on shaking legs.

"Prove what?" Sakura asked.

"I'll prove that it's true, that in this world there are real heroes." He said with a pained smile now on his face.

With Naruto's declaration, everyone stood from the table to go to bed.

Kakashi slowly walked over on his crutches and stood over Naruto, placing one hand on his head. _I know you will._ Kakashi thought to himself.

He walked to the deck where he knew Erina had jumped into the water. He quickly found her floating there, and sat down on the end.

"Well?" she asked, slowly swimming up to him.

"You were right. Inari has been through something tragic."

"What was it?" she floated beneath him, treading the water and meeting his eyes.

He shook his head, "You don't need to know yet."

"Kashi – " she was about to argue with him, but he cut her off.

"No, Erina. You don't need to know this right now." He said with a stern tone.

She thought for a moment then sighed, pouting. "Fine." She looked away and started to swim in the other direction, but Kakashi quickly gripped one of his crutches to plunge it into the water and grip her ankle, trapping it in the handle. He pulled gently and she was brought back to him.

"Come here." He asked.

She didn't pause and started to climb up onto the deck, sitting beside him in her soaking wet clothes.

Kakashi didn't say anything more, just removed his Jōnin jacket and held it out to her. She smiled her thanks and removed her jacket, placing his much too large one on her shoulders. She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, resting.

A few minutes had passed until he heard her breathing slow to that of deep sleep. He stood slowly, still holding her up and lifted her in his arms, going to their bedding upstairs. He left the crutches where they were. It took him some time to climb the steps, but he finally got there and slid the divider closed, gently placing Erina down on the sheets, climbing in next to her. She didn't stir once.

He lay his head on the pillow and watched her gentle face in sleep. Her delicate eyes closed and her pouty lips slightly open. Her hair was still wet and dripping water every now and then. They looked like crystals falling around her face. One fell to her lips and didn't slide off right away. He was tempted to kiss it off, but quickly forced that urge down. He lifted one of his fingers to her lips and wiped away the water.

He placed his chin in his usual spot on her shoulder, his face fitting perfectly in her neck. He breathed her in and smiled slightly. But moments later, dreaded the battle he knew would be coming soon.

* * *

Sakura woke up shortly after Kakashi and Sasuke, joining the family and her team mates for breakfast. But Naruto and Erina weren't there.

"Where are Naruto and Sandā?" she asked, sitting down.

"Naruto was out all night again." Sasuke explained with a groan.

"Sandā is resting." Kakashi explained, sitting away from the table. He only needed one crutch now, and waited to hear if Erina would wake soon.

Sasuke stood and started to leave.

"Wait, Sasuke where are you going?" Sakura called after him.

He paused a moment, "I'm going for a walk." He said lamely.

Kakashi was able to hide his laugh, knowing fully well where he was off to.

Sakura sat quietly and ate her food while Kakashi closed his eyes, contemplating their situation.

Ten minutes went by until he heard Erina walking gently upstairs, her face showing moments later. Her clothes were now dry and she acted like nothing happened last night, as usual.

"Where are the others?" she asked Kakashi.

"Naruto didn't return last night and Sasuke… went for a walk." He was tempted to put quotations near the end, but decided against it.

Erina smiled. "Really?"

He nodded, watching her sit down at the table, slowly eating her meal.

When an hour had passed, Sakura made the suggestion to go out and find her team mates. Erina walked along side Kakashi, her senses now returned to normal, scanning the area for any possible intruders or threats.

"Naruto?" Sakura called out his name, "Sasuke?" they were all in the open field in which they had begun the training, looking for the Genin.

A kunai was suddenly thrown at their feet from out of nowhere, startling all three of them. They looked up and saw Naruto laying on his stomach on a branch high up in a tree, his arms hanging down, exhaustion evident on his face, but a smile was there as well.

He laughed, looking down at them.

Sakura looked up in amazement, he was at least sixty feet from the ground. "He can climb that high now?" she appraised.

"Hmm…" Kakashi watched him carefully, but also very impressed.

Erina nodded her approval, smiling up at him.

"What do you think? High enough for you guys? I mean it's a long way down, huh?" he continued laughing.

He jumped to his feet on the branch, now full of energy, but he tripped and lost his footing, now falling backwards.

Kakashi and Sakura gasped in fear, but Erina knew it was a prank. He just wanted to show off how much he had improved; there was no genuine fear coming from him.

His feet never left the bark and he now stood upside down on the bottom of the branch as Kakashi had a couple days before, his arms crossed and a broad smile visible to all of them.

Kakashi didn't sigh in relief but watched Naruto, speaking to Erina now, "Why do I think this is going to end badly?"

"Because it will." She responded with a small laugh.

Only a few moments passed until Naruto's feet suddenly came clean off the branch and he had nothing to grip, falling straight down, head first.

Erina didn't budge, sensing Sasuke coming running up the tree beside Naruto and jumped over to grip his foot, letting Naruto hang there helplessly and flail around.

"You really are a total loser, Naruto." Sasuke sighed.

Erina could now feel the enormous pride from Sasuke. She was glad he had now mastered his chakra control, but he still needed to understand the team work aspect of being a shinobi.

Sakura began screaming with joy over Sasuke's great save of Naruto, while Kakashi looked down and met Erina's eyes. "If I'm still sane by the time we finish their training, it'll be a miracle."

She nodded her agreement.

"We're going back to the house. Don't miss dinner and Sasuke," Erina spoke directly to him now, "let Naruto down _safely._" She emphasized the word and met his eyes, not turning away until Sasuke had jumped from underneath the branch to the base of the trunk, keeping Naruto out of harm's way… most of the time. When they landed on the ground, he let go of Naruto's foot so fast, Naruto didn't have time to recover and he fell face first into the dirt.

"Keep training if you guys want, but don't forget the real reason we've been teaching you guys this. It's not a contest, this is for when Zabuza returns." She said carefully to both of them.

They nodded and waited for the others to leave.

* * *

"Now they're both late. I wouldn't have expected that from Sasuke." Sakura worried.

Kakashi, Erina and Sakura were waiting at the dinner table with Tazuna and Inari when Sasuke and Naruto came through the door a couple hours later, Sasuke holding Naruto up.

"Where have you two been? You look like something the cat dragged in." Tazuna joked.

Naruto lifted his head, "We both made it. We made it all the way to the top." He smiled.

Kakashi nodded, "Good. Now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you're both body guards for Tazuna."

Naruto got so excited that he lost his balance and dragged Sasuke down with him to the floor.

"You are such a loser!" Sasuke almost yelled, making everyone else laugh.

They all ate dinner and laughed, enjoying the company. All the ninjas knew they needed to take advantage of this peaceful time, because they would soon be facing Zabuza again.

When their plates were empty, they all enjoyed tea in silence, just resting. Naruto eventually passed out on the table, so tired from over doing his training.

Erina smiled at him. But when she met Inari's eyes, she felt an unbearable pain in her heart, her fingers subconsciously going to her chest to try to remove whatever was causing it. It all happened so suddenly, it hit her out of nowhere like before. She cried out in pain for a moment, startling everyone. Kakashi leaned over her protectively, watching her.

"What is it?"

"It's happening… again…" she gasped out.

Kakashi looked over to Inari and saw his head was down, tears streaming down his face.

Erina was mimicking him, her brain not concealing the pain in any way, tears now running down her cheeks.

"Damn it." She cursed, gripping Kakashi's sleeve tightly, leaning into his chest.

"What's wrong with Sandā?" Sakura asked, standing to walk over.

Kakashi raised a hand, "Please, stay back Sakura. Don't come near her." Sakura froze and sat back down again, watching as her male sensei protected his female counterpart.

"What's going on? This is the second time this has happened." Sasuke asked, staying where he was.

"I'll explain in a minute, but she needs to calm down first."

"Calm down?" Sakura asked, trying to move her head around and see what was happening. All she could hear was Erina's cries of pain sounding similar to someone that had just lost something incredibly important to them.

She gasped, tried to breathe in, get control of her mind, but Inari's pain was too great. She cursed herself, hating her own mind. Why did it have to be this way?

"Kashi…" she gasped his name, trying to tell him she needed to get away from Inari. It was such a different emotion than what she was used to feeling from others. She was used to the hatred and anger from rival ninja, but this was a child's pain. Something so incredibly potent, it overwhelmed her like she hadn't experienced since she was young, before she was able to control her ability.

"Hang on, Sandā." He whispered, laying her down on the floor and letting her ride it out. That was all he could do.

He watched her cry, try to not feed off the child's pain, but it was too much. It over took her and she was beginning to sink into the darkness again. He didn't want to think of what would happen if she completely gave in, just let it consume her. There may be no way to get her back.

He leaned over her head, gripping her cheeks in his palms tightly, refusing to let her look away.

"Sandā, focus on me." He tried to make eye contact with her, to bring her down from the emotional spiral she was in. He glanced over to Inari who seemed to now be shaking.

"Damn." He said to himself. Inari was getting worse, and she was feeding off it. "Sandā, you can do this. We've been through worse, look at me."

She started to calm the more he talked, her gaze now finding his. She wasn't shaking anymore, but her chest was jumping up and down in a jerking motion, almost like there was something trying to get out. He held her head tightly, looking into her eyes, "Breathe with me." He instructed quietly, slowly exaggerating his breathing so she could copy him.

She only needed a few moments to calm down, her eyes no longer as frantic, her cries no longer filled with pain. Her breathing was beginning to return to normal, her hands coming up to hold his against her cheeks. She smiled slowly and weekly, "Thank you, Kashi." She whispered.

He sighed in relief, his eyes closing for a moment. He leaned his forehead down to touch hers gently, the only way he could safely show her affection.

He helped her sit up again, keeping a close eye on her. She glanced over to Inari, who was still feeling the pain, hardly paying attention to anything that was happening.

"What the hell just happened?" Sasuke asked.

"I'll explain later, Sasuke." Erina said, refusing to take her eyes off Inari. Maybe if she watched him, his emotions wouldn't consume her so quickly.

Naruto raised his head, having seen the whole thing but not wanting to move.

"But why…" Inari's small voice rang out in the silence, drawing Naruto's attention.

"What'd you say?"

Inari slammed his fists down on the table and stood, "All this stupid training is just a waste of time! Gato's got a whole army! They'll beat you down and they'll destroy you! These cool things you all say; they don't mean anything! No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak always lose!" Inari's voice hung in the silence, his words stinging.

"Just speak for yourself, it won't be like that for me, you got that?" Naruto said in an angry voice.

"Why don't you be quiet!" Inari continued to yell, tears still streaming down his cheeks, his eyes closed in frustration. "Just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country, you're just butting in! Always laughing and playing around, you don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt!"

Erina felt the pain in Naruto's heart at those words. His past flooding his memories.

He didn't hesitate in responding to Inari's insults, "Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim. You can whimper all day for all I care… you're nothing but a coward!" Naruto raised his head and met Inari's eyes.

"Naruto, stop." Erina demanded, keeping watch on the young boy.

Naruto stood in frustration and walked away, no longer having anything to say.

Inari's emotions came back and hit him hard, but Erina was prepared for it this time. It wasn't just pain he was feeling, it was also guilt, his shoulders shaking again with the intensity of it.

* * *

"I think it's time you tell me what happened, Kashi." Erina said quietly, leaning against the wall. Kakashi stood and nodded in agreement.

"There was a man that came here three years ago, he apparently saved Inari from drowning, and the boy immediately took a shine to him, called him his father. He married Inari's mother, and changed the village's people, giving them hope in all danger. But when Gato showed, he couldn't let someone like that continue to live. He kidnapped him and shattered his arms, strung him up for all the village to see, warning that this would happen to anyone who dared to cross him… and murdered him in front of Inari."

Erina sighed, looking away for a moment. "That makes sense. I've been feeling guilt from Inari as well, but I couldn't understand why. He thinks that if he was stronger, than he may have been able to do something to change it…"

Kakashi nodded, walking towards her and holding his hand out. "Shall we go speak with him?" he suggested.

"Yeah. Then we need to explain to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura what's going on. They've seen it twice, there's not much to shield them from now." She took his hand and they walked to where they knew Inari was sitting by the water.

He was withdrawn, not crying or feeling any pain, but numb. Erina took a deep breath as they approached him, now prepared with her new information, she could stand to be around him. There weren't many things stronger than an emotion without any logic behind it. If you understood the reason for it, the emotion lost some of its power.

They walked up behind him, and Kakashi spoke first, "Can we talk to you?"

Inari slightly turned his head, but didn't say anything. They took that as a 'yes'.

"Naruto can be a little…harsh sometimes. But he doesn't hate you. Your grandfather told us what happened to your father. You probably don't know this but Naruto also grew up without a father. In fact, he never knew either of his parents and he didn't have a single friend in our village." Kakashi spoke softly to Inari, trying to comfort him. "Still… I've never seen him cry, sulk or give up. He's always eager to jump in, he wants to be respected, that's his dream. And he'll put his life on the line for that in a heartbeat. My guess is… he just got tired of crying and decided to do something about it. Even though he's young and still learning, he knows what it means to be strong. Like your father did… I think he knows better than any of us what you're going through. What Naruto told you earlier, as cruel as it sounded, he's probably told himself that a thousand times." Kakashi ended with looking at the boy and smiling under his mask.

"Inari, I know you can see the same kind of person your father was in Naruto, and you're terrified of Naruto suffering the same fate." Erina gently drew his face to look at her, "But Naruto is so much stronger than so many we've even met. He doesn't understand the meaning of giving up, and he always makes good of his promises. And he promises to protect your grandfather and your village, until that bridge is built and you can all lead better lives. Don't you think that's something your father would encourage?" she asked him gently, raising an eyebrow.

Inari nodded slowly, starting to cry again.

"Sometimes, crying can be a good thing." She whispered as she held him close, letting him cry into her chest. His emotions didn't over whelm her as much as they had before, probably because someone was actually talking to him about it rather than him keeping them bottled up.

She held him a moment longer, than encouraged him to go to bed. Kakashi and her watched Inari head inside, following after him. They walked upstairs and climbed under the sheets, Erina falling asleep almost immediately. Kakashi smiled and wrapped his arms around her, letting her scent engulf him once more.

* * *

When they woke up the next morning, the three Genin hadn't risen yet. They took this opportunity to talk amongst themselves, drinking tea together.

"You think they're ready to know?" Kakashi asked her.

"We don't have much of a choice, Kashi. They know something is going on. And Sasuke won't stop asking until we tell him." Erina took a sip of her tea, thinking deeply.

Minutes later, Sasuke and Sakura walked in together, sitting at the table not saying a word.

"Naruto still sleeping?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura nodded, "He's completely passed out."

"Alright, we'll let him rest." Kakashi said.

"What's going on with Sandā?" Sasuke demanded to know.

Kakashi sighed, but Erina was prepared for this. "You've all seen some… weird things since you met me. Sometimes somewhat unexplainable. It's because I was born differently than everyone else."

"What do you mean?" Sakura leaned closer.

"I was born with an extremely rare genetic code. Even more rare than your sharingan, Sasuke. It's called 'mirror – touch synesthesia'."

"'Mirror – touch synesthesia'?" Sasuke repeated.

"It means she literally acts as a mirror to anyone's emotions and physical sensations that she's looking at in the moment." Kakashi explained, looking over to Erina.

"I don't understand." Sakura continued, while Sasuke kept watching Erina closely.

"Here." Erina pulled out a kunai from Kakashi's pouch and passed it to Sakura. "Cut yourself with this anywhere, and I will feel it as if I've been cut."

"Huh?" Sakura blanched.

"Wait, how do we know it's not just a trick? Anyone can watch someone get hurt and see where the other person is feeling pain and mimic it." Sasuke argued.

"Fine, then I'll cover my eyes so I'm only making eye contact with Sakura and can't see where she's cutting." Erina suggested.

Sasuke kept silent at this, as Erina brought one hand up to cover her sight of Sakura's body, only keeping eye contact with her.

"Go ahead, Sakura." Kakashi encouraged.

Sakura paused for a moment, tried to keep as still as possible and not look to where she was going to cut. She wasn't even positive of where she would get cut.

The kunai cut somewhat deep into Sakura's left arm, near her elbow. Erina mimicked her every move and gripped her own elbow as if she had just been cut, hissing at the pain.

Sasuke watched in curiosity, but still doubted. Shinobi were natural tricksters.

"You didn't have to cut that deep, Sakura." Erina said, frowning.

"I still don't believe you." Sasuke stood to leave, done with this conversation.

"Sasuke, this is important for you to understand." Kakashi said, using his authority to have him stay where he was. "Sandā can do more than just feel other people's physical sensations, she can also feel their emotions." Kakashi looked to Erina and nodded his head.

She stood and walked towards Sasuke, meeting his eyes. She didn't say anything, just stared at him. He didn't back down, kept eye contact with her.

"Why are you afraid?" she asked, stepping closer.

"I'm not."

"Then why do I feel fear from you?"

"Perhaps it's your own fear."

She stepped even closer now, touching his feet, crowding his space. "What reason do I have to fear you, Sasuke?" she whispered.

He paused, watching her carefully. That familiarity from before came back, his mind screaming at him to remember where he had seen her before.

"You'll remember where I'm from soon. You're not ready yet." She said and stepped away a few feet, sitting back down beside Kakashi.

Sasuke didn't move, momentarily paralyzed by the fact that she seemed to read his mind. Could she recognize something so trivial as that, read him like an open book?

He stayed where he was while Kakashi continued to explain, "Because of this ability she has, Sandā felt what Inari was feeling when we first got here. His pain had hit her so hard and suddenly, she couldn't prepare for it. And since none of us knew, it caught her off guard. And last night at dinner, it happened again. It seems Inari is ridden with guilt about his father's death, and when he thinks of these memories, his pain is so severe, Sandā can feel it as her own."

"So, will this continue to happen, sensei?" Sakura asked, worried.

Erina shook her head, "No, we've spoken with Inari, and so long as I'm on guard when I'm near him, nothing more should happen. Hatred and anger, I'm used to feeling from other shinobi, but the amount of pain from this boy, someone so young going through something so traumatic, it's magnified by a thousand."

"Hn… whatever." Sasuke said, walking away now.

Erina watched him leave, waiting outside the front door for their day to begin.

"Sandā?" Kakashi asked. She knew what he was wondering about. He wasn't sure if Sasuke believed them. She nodded her head in response; yes, he did believe them. But he would never admit it.

They all joined Sasuke outside when Tazuna and Inari's mother joined them, getting ready to leave with Tazuna to the bridge.

"Okay, I leave Naruto in your hands. He's pushed his body to the limit. Overdoing it as usual, so he may not be able to move today at all." Kakashi said to Inari's mother.

"What about you? You're still recovering yourself." She worried.

"Why, do I look wobbly?" he laughed, brushing it off, "I'll be okay." He turned to join Erina with the others.

"Come on, let's go." Tazuna instructed, leading the group to the bridge.

But just before they arrived at the bridge, Erina stopped and stood completely still.

They turned around to walk back to her, Kakashi looking down into her eyes.

"What's wrong with her?" Sakura asked.

"She's sensing chakra." Kakashi explained, waiting for Erina's eyes to clear.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, looking around.

Erina quickly met Kakashi's eyes, "Round two." She said quietly.

He nodded and stood straight, "Be careful." He warned the students, hoping that Naruto would somehow be able to join them soon. They'd need all the help they could get.

They continued towards the bridge and came across the sight of all of the workers unconscious and on the ground, the materials spread out and broken.

A thick mist began surrounding them, and Kakashi took a defensive stance. "Sasuke, Sakura. Get ready." He turned around and waited for Zabuza to appear.

They surrounded Tazuna in a protective circle and had their weapons at the ready.

Zabuza's haunting voice rang out from all directions of the mist, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Kakashi." He seemed glad to see them. "I see you've still got those brats with you. That one's still trembling… Pitiful." He nearly laughed.

Erina glanced over to Sasuke, whose hand was shaking holding the kunai. Zabuza appeared from the mist in front of Erina and Tazuna, and another and another. Water Clone Jutsu.

"Hn…" Sasuke scoffed. "I'm trembling with excitement."

Kakashi partially turned around to get Sasuke in his view, "Go on, Sasuke." He said with a smile under his mask.

Zabuza went for an attack, wielding his huge blade again, going in for the kill. But Sasuke beat him to it, destroying all the clones, landing back in his place in the circle before the water even hit the ground.

"Ooh," Zabuza feigned fascination, "so you could see they were Water Clones, huh? Brats improving." Zabuza stepped towards them, with the young boy they had seen take his body away from before. "Looks like you've got a rival, Haku." He mused.

"So, it seems." The boys voice rang out from behind the same mask he had worn before.

_Damn. This isn't good. With the boy on his side, we're outnumbered. He may be young, but he's incredibly deadly._ Erina watched them carefully, stepping slowly to stand in front of Kakashi, who now had a relaxed demeaner, with his hands in his pockets. She stood tall in front of him, and took her place to protect him, stretching her head slightly where his neck was exposed.

"This one is smart. She protects the weak points of her partner." Haku noticed.

"She's nothing but a toy." Zabuza said in anger.

Kakashi grew angry at his remark, his hands lifting to grip Erina's hips again, pulling her close.

"Easy, Kakashi." She said so only he could hear.

She was right, he had to calm down. Getting riled up because of a few stupid words from Zabuza wasn't going to do them any good.

She slowly put her mask on, the crosses dangling from the left to right of it, her necklace with kunai's full and ready at her disposal.

"Well, well. So, I had it right, it was all an act." Kakashi said.

"An act?" Tazuna repeated.

"With a cute little mask." Kakashi tried to throw an insult at the boy.

Erina still couldn't get a read on the boy, that damn mask was in the way. They had to find a way to get rid of it, break it somehow. But that wouldn't be easy. At least they didn't know what she was able to do just yet.

"That's it, I'm taking him out." Sasuke said with a bored tone, but underneath he was angry.

They didn't even have time to blink, Haku was moving so quickly towards Sasuke, but he was able to read the movements, just barely, and take a defensive position. Haku now held one of his needles against Sasuke's kunai, evenly matched in strength.

Kakashi called to Sakura, "Cover Tazuna and stay close to us. Let Sasuke handle this." He knew Zabuza would be making a move soon.

Haku and Sasuke continued to analyze each other, giving small attacks to see what the other was made of.

"We want the bridge builder, not you. If you back down now, I won't have to kill you." Haku spoke with such a calm voice, it gave Erina shivers.

"Save it." Sasuke laughed.

"You're making a mistake; you won't be able to keep up with my speed." Haku tried to reason.

Erina turned towards them slightly. _That's interesting… why is he trying to reason with Sasuke and get him to back down without any harm being necessary?_ She could feel a few of his emotions, mostly calm but also worry.

Haku started to explain why he had the advantage in the fight, why Sasuke was not going to be able to win.

When he lifted one hand up to start making hand signs, Erina gasped in horror.

"That's not possible…" she and Kakashi stepped back unconsciously. They'd never seen anything like that.

Haku stomped his foot and the water rose up from the ground, taking on the shape of needles.

"Sasuke, get out of there!" Erina yelled to him.

But he didn't move, his energy completely calm and focused, the needles now descending on him with rapid speed, deadly accuracy.

Right when the explosion happened, Haku jumped away, clear of any harm. He looked to where Sasuke was supposed to be, but he wasn't there anymore. Sasuke now hovered high in the air, and started to toss throwing stars at Haku, who dodged them one after the other.

Sasuke appeared behind Haku, "You're not as fast as you think. From now on, you'll be the one defending against my attacks." Sasuke gloated, the both of them breaking apart and turning quickly, Sasuke going in for a hit, Haku blocking it, Sasuke then throwing a kunai at Haku's head, Haku barely dodging it, kneeling down safely out of the way, only then for Sasuke to kick him in the face, sending him flying backwards.

Haku landed in front of Zabuza, who started to laugh.

"Haku, if we go on like this, we'll be the victims instead of them. Get on with it!"

"Right…" Haku began to focus his chakra, the power emanating from him. "I'm sorry it's come to this." He said with genuine emotion.

"It feels like ice…" Erina observed.

Haku made a hand sign and ice began to form behind Sasuke. It took on the shape of a mirror, and soon Sasuke was surrounded in a circle of them, a dome being created to trap him in. Haku disappeared inside one, his image now being shown in the front. His image was then copied to every single mirror that surrounded Sasuke.

Kakashi growled in annoyance, and Erina understood that they needed to help Sasuke. Kakashi barely flinched to move his muscles forward and Erina was mimicking him perfectly, they ran together towards Sasuke.

Zabuza appeared and cut them off, "If you enter this fight, you fight me. Your boy has no chance against that Jutsu, he's finished."

The next moment, Haku was throwing the Senbon at Sasuke from all the mirrors, too fast for Sasuke to defend against.

"Sasuke." Kakashi tried to think of something, but with Zabuza standing in front of them, there wasn't much they could do.

"Just try to help him and I'll kill the other two in a heartbeat." Zabuza threatened.

Sakura stepped away from Tazuna and grabbed the kunai that was thrown out of Sasuke's hands, rushed to the mirrors, and tried to toss it back to him. But Haku was faster and stole the kunai right out of the air.

Sasuke was now on his hands and knees, blood dripping from beneath his clothes. Before Haku could make another move, two throwing stars hit each side of his face, knocking him to the ground from the protection of the mirrors. He lay flat on the cement for a few moments, when a burst of smoke gave the indication that another was joining the fight.

Haku began to slowly rise, "Number one… hyperactive… knucklehead ninja…" he didn't need to see Naruto's face to know it was him.

Naruto started to summon his Shadow Clone Jutsu, but Zabuza was one step ahead of him, throwing four shuriken at him.

"Naruto! Move!" Kakashi called out.

He froze in place, caught off guard by the suddenness of the attack,

But before they could get anywhere near him, four needles stopped them and they all fell to the ground.

"This is a battle, not a talent show! Don't let your opponent see your Jutsu!" Kakashi lectured Naruto. "A shinobi's art is deception, always keep the enemy guessing. Even when executing a single Jutsu, one must distract the enemy's attention, catch them off balance and outmaneuver them. You just turn yourself into a human target when you enter a battle like that."

"I'm sorry! I was just trying to rescue everybody!" Naruto cried out.

The entire time Kakashi had spoken, Erina didn't take her eyes off Haku.

"Haku, what are you doing?" Zabuza demanded.

"Zabuza… this boy, let me fight him my own way." Haku asked, standing now.

"So… you want me to leave this to you, is that it, Haku?... as usual, you're too soft." Zabuza said, but didn't interfere again.

Erina looked over to Sasuke. _He's right… even though Sasuke may appear to be badly wounded, it was more so the rush of adrenaline and so many small cuts that sent his body into panic… none of the wounds are even slightly fatal… and earlier, he nearly begged Sasuke to stop fighting him… he doesn't want to kill anyone…_

Erina felt Kakashi tense behind her for a moment, getting ready to help his students.

"Don't even think about it." Zabuza stepped in front of them. "You know the score, Kakashi. If you go after Haku, I go after the bridge builder."

Kakashi stepped back, Erina following him, taking a relaxed stance again.

_Damn… I can't leave Sakura on her own to defend against Zabuza… even with Erina's help, it's too much. She'd be trying to protect Sakura and Tazuna and wouldn't be able to do her best fighting… I can't help Sasuke and Naruto while also helping Erina defend Tazuna and Sakura…_

"Relax, Kakashi. Sit back and enjoy the show. Let's see how they do. One on one." Zabuza also became relaxed, speaking to Kakashi in an uninterested tone now.

Naruto started to lecture Haku about how he had deceived them, and shockingly, Haku had apologized, asking for their forgiveness for his deception. Kakashi saw Sasuke take this opportunity to get a strike in, but Haku dodged the kunai easily. He turned to Sasuke, and Naruto turned as well, absorbing the situation. He now understood that Sasuke was pinned down, unable to defend or attack, Sakura guarding Tazuna and Sandā and Kakashi keeping Zabuza distracted… things didn't look good.

They saw Haku start walking towards the mirrors again, and disappeared in the back of one. Sasuke was targeted by more needles, cutting him and claiming his blood on their metal.

Kakashi instructed them that they needed to attack from both the inside and outside of the mirrors, it was all about the positioning. Erina watched Sasuke think, hoping that if it got to the worst — case scenario, he would be able to activate his sharingan… that was his ace.

They blinked, and Naruto was gone, now on the inside of the mirrors, startling Sasuke.

"Ugh…" Erina hung her head.

They argued for a moment, then Sasuke stood, "That's it! I'm going to destroy these mirrors right now!" he made his hand signs, and called out his Fireball Jutsu. But the attack was useless, hitting the mirrors, but not making a single one melt or disappear.

Haku launched his next attack, now hitting Naruto and Sasuke with the Senbon.

Naruto then summoned his Shadow Clones, against Sasuke's warning, and aimed for the mirrors. But Haku went for another attack, destroying the clones and cutting Naruto more. Naruto landed next to Sasuke again.

"These mirrors only reflect my image, allowing me to transport myself at light speed. Through my eyes, you appear to be moving in slow motion."

Kakashi gasped, "Damn."

Erina started voicing his thoughts. "It's a bloodline trait, isn't it? Kekkei Genkai."

"Kekkei Genkai? What is it?" Sakura asked.

"It's like my sharingan, you can't learn it, it has to be in your blood, in your genetic code, passed down from generation to generation within a single clan."

"But that means…" Sakura put the pieces together.

"He can't copy it. There's no way to destroy it and no way to stop it." Erina finished, looking to Sasuke and Naruto again.

Naruto started shouting to Sasuke, but she couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. The entire time she had been keeping tabs on Haku's chakra emotion, the only thing she could get a read on from him. He was consistently calm and focused, not getting distracted by the slightest thing.

Something Naruto said suddenly made Haku's energy shift, his chakra now becoming sad and dark.

Sakura called out to her team mates, encouraging them to not lose to someone like Haku.

"Don't, Sakura. Don't push them. Even if they somehow found a way to overcome the Mirror Jutsu, they still couldn't defeat this ninja." Kakashi instructed her.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked.

Zabuza laughed at her.

"They have the desire to win but they don't have the instinct to kill. That boy is a whole other breed. He lives for pain. He thrives on it." Kakashi explained.

Erina closed her eyes. _No, that doesn't feel right. If that were true, why would he give Sasuke so many chances to surrender? Why did he save Naruto's life? None of this adds up…_

Zabuza laughed again, "Exactly. Your village has become complacent. Your trainees never learn the most important lesson of all: to kill the feelings in their own hearts, to crush an opponent mercilessly, to destroy with no emotional regret."

Sakura grew scared, knowing he was right. "Sensei, what are we going to do? Please tell us." She begged Kakashi.

He met Erina's eyes, and she immediately shook her head, knowing what he was thinking. He wouldn't be able to make it in time to help them, and to leave Tazuna essentially defenseless. Erina would have to decide who to save, her student or the mission.

Kakashi thought for a moment, then lifted his hand to his left eye, covered by the head band.

Zabuza laughed again, nearly ending in a groan. "You're no fun Kakashi, using the same old trick." Zabuza made his move immediately after finishing his words, running at Kakashi and Erina.

Kakashi pushed Erina out of the way before she was in danger, and held his hand up to directly block the kunai attack, the small point now embedded in his palm. "If it's just an old trick, why did you stop me?" he mused.

Zabuza pulled the kunai free and jumped away a few feet. "You thought those Genin punks together could beat Haku? He's the ultimate. A battle tool of destruction." Zabuza said.

"Are you finished bragging? You're starting to put me to sleep." Kakashi said, angry. "Let's finish this, now." Kakashi raised his head band and exposed the sharingan.

He quickly met Erina's eyes, she felt his emotions clearly and he was in control, she walked to Tazuna and Sakura, defensive once again.

Zabuza interrupted Kakashi and continued talking, reiterating the last time they fought. "Did you really think our last battle was just win or lose? Haku was there, studying everything about your sharingan."

"We know he was there." Kakashi said, standing straight. "You're not telling me anything new."

"How about that fact that Haku is able to see a Jutsu and immediately come up with a lethal counter attack? Your sharingan is useless. It won't work on me twice." Zabuza summoned his Hidden Mist Jutsu and disappeared.

"Sakura, do not move from Tazuna's side." Erina instructed her student with the strictest tone she'd ever used. She jumped to Kakashi's side and took her place in front of him once again.

"Sandā?" he asked, hoping she would stay out of harm's way.

"You'll need me now." She watched carefully for Zabuza. "You remember what we do when we can't see." She whispered so only he could hear.

He nodded, his hands now coming up to grip her waist, his large palms nearly gripping all of her mid – section. She had a plan and he trusted her. He could feel her heart beat slightly, focusing on her steady rhythm. If her heart rate sped up, he knew there was danger approaching. She was better able to fight without using her eyes than he was, her ability nearly perfect for this kind of disadvantage. He closed his eyes and relaxed, keeping his hands tight on her, her mask up and hood covering her, he knew she was protected. Now he just had to follow her lead.

The only thing he was worried about was that they now lost visual of Naruto and Sasuke. He had no choice but to trust their team work.

They waited…

"Left!" she cried out, Kakashi quickly grabbing a kunai to deflect the throwing stars, "Behind!" she turned and he followed her movements precisely. Zabuza now appeared behind them, but he didn't make a move.

"His eyes are closed…" Erina said quietly.

"Huh?" Kakashi opened his eyes and saw what she did.

"The next time you see me will be the last time you see anything. Without your sharingan, you're nothing." Zabuza disappeared again.

Erina could feel Kakashi was starting to get worried, anxious and scared. He was in uncharted territory, putting all his trust in her. This wasn't the first time for something like this to happen, but they now also had three young Genin to protect, and their mission still needed to be completed. So many people depended on this one battle. So many people would die if they failed.

"You wanted me to believe you could see through anything, even time." Zabuza was talking about their last fight. "But your prediction was wrong, I'm still alive, so you're a fraud, Kakashi. You can't read the future and you can't read me. The sharingan is just a cheap trick that makes you seem more powerful than you are. I know now, your sharingan has two separate elements. The piercing eye, which sees every detail and the hypnotic eye, which mesmerizes your opponent. Employing these abilities, you can execute multiple Jutsu in quick succession, to make it seem like you can see the future. Now that I know this, a very simple plan can defeat you. First, neutralize your piercing eye with zero visibility mist,"

"Watch out!" Erina braced herself to take the brunt of the hit that seemed to come out of nowhere, knocking her back into Kakashi, sending them both flying a few feet back. Kakashi gripped her with one hand tightly, they both made the movement to dig their kunai into the ground to slow the movements.

Zabuza laughed, "next, neutralize your hypnotic eye, with my own eyes closed, you can't bore into my mind if you can't look into my eyes."

Kakashi and Erina stood, "Brilliant. Except with your eyes closed, you can't see us either."

"Have you forgotten who I am, Kakashi? I'm the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Master of the Silent Kill. I can take you out by sound alone."

Kakashi looked down to meet Erina's eyes, and she tapped the side of her nose twice. He nodded.

She focused, trying to see through Zabuza.

_Why doesn't he strike? What's his plan?_

Both Kakashi and Erina gasped, "The Bridgebuilder!" they cried out in unison.

Her knee jerk reaction was to grip Kakashi's hand and they ran to Sakura and Tazuna, trying to get to them in time. Zabuza appeared behind them and they turned around, Kakashi and Erina appearing in front of them just with hardly a second to spare, blocking any move Zabuza could make.

"Too late!" Zabuza said. He knew he was either going to get Tazuna or Kakashi and Erina. He swung his enormous blade and sliced both of their chests, Kakashi's blood spilling onto the ground, his Jōnin jacket now torn open; Erina's blood was spattered on him, the smell of it making him nauseated from his sensitive nose.

They heard a shrill scream directly behind them, Sakura now stunned in terror.

"Your eyes are sharp, Kakashi. But not sharp enough to read my moves. Not anymore." Zabuza taunted.

Kakashi leaned on one side, gripping at his now bleeding chest.

"Come on Kakashi, I want this to be fun. I want to enjoy myself as I exact my revenge." Zabuza started to laugh manically, disappearing into the mist once again.

Kakashi's breathing was hard, the cut going deeper than he expected.

Erina was having a hard time keeping Zabuza's emotions out of her mind, his insanity almost contagious.

She gripped Kakashi's hand and looked up at him, putting her other hand to cover his, and bring it to her chest. Her fresh blood stained his fingers, his entire palm now nearly red. She nodded, his mind beginning to calm at her confidence.

She returned to stand in front of him, their blood heavy in the air.

"Sakura, stay with Tazuna." Kakashi instructed while they both ran off into the mist and seeking out Zabuza.

They were only able to run for a moment, until Erina was thrown backwards by an unseen force. Kakashi gripped her tightly, protecting her from the fall.

"Sandā?" he said, trying to cradle her face and see what was happening. There shouldn't have been any surprises in this fight, she knew what she was facing. The boy Haku wouldn't be able to have this kind of power over her.

That was when he felt it. Erina screamed a bloodcurdling scream, her body shaking from fear. The chakra that cascaded around all of them completely overtook her, something so potent, dangerous and deadly would of course steal all her senses away.

He didn't have to worry about Zabuza for the moment, he knew this wasn't his chakra.

"Kakashi…" she whimpered. Crawling on all fours to try to get away from whatever was assaulting her senses. "What's happening?" he stood over her, holding her still while she writhed in pain, screaming and clawing at her chest, making the gash open even deeper. Her own blood was now spreading on her palms, staining her clothes.

"Stop, Sandā you have to stop!" he tried to hold her hands, but the look on her face pained him so much. This was the worst he'd ever seen, something so evil was not meant to be felt by a kind heart.

He was out of options, he had to protect their students and Erina. He had to snap her out of it somehow. He'd made up his mind. If she was going to be angry at him, fine. At least she'd be alive.

He reached up and pulled his mask down, pinned her arms beside her head with all the strength he could without hurting her, her body now not moving around so frantically. He forced his body down on hers and held her still, and pressed his lips against hers.

She cried out once more, but started to calm at the physical sensation of his lips on her own. He held still for a moment, but her body was still jerking around like she was trying to get away. He opened his mouth and allowed his tongue to seek hers out, her body now becoming completely still.

"Mhm!" she whimpered against his lips, but no longer from pain. Her tongue danced with his erotically, her hands and arms going limp. He let his hands move from pinning her down to cradling her face in a possessive manner, holding her and his kiss became punishing. He wasn't going to lose her, not to something like this. They both swore to each other long ago that their lives belonged to one another; no way in hell was he going to let someone like Zabuza claim her life, or an accidental slip like what was happening over power her.

He slowly pulled away, his teeth gently biting her bottom lip, her gasp making him nearly smile.

"Kashi…" she didn't know what to say.

He stood quickly and held his hand out to help her up. They met gazes, "Kakashi, this is…"

"Yeah…"

"How can it be possible? The seal couldn't have possible broken."

"I don't think it did, I think it's been loosened and a fraction of the chakra has seeped through."

"Something must have happened to make Naruto react this way."

Kakashi nodded, understanding what she was getting at.

"Time for our final move." She said, standing beside him.

He flicked open one of the buttons on his Jōnin jacket and caught the scroll as it fell out, letting it unroll open in front of him, using his other hand that had both his blood and Erina's on it to put a solid line through the scroll.

"Zabuza, I don't mean to spoil your fun, I know how you like to stretch these things out, but how about we put an end to this now?" Kakashi had spoken out loud to Zabuza and completed the summoning formation, making the scroll roll back up and seal shut in his hands. "Come on, what do you say? We're both busy people."

"Hm. Tempting. I'm curious to see how you intend to back up such brave words. Show me, Kakashi!" Zabuza yelled out his challenge.

Erina stood beside Kakashi, waiting for Zabuza's slightest movement anywhere.

Kakashi completed his hand signs and drove the scroll half way into the ground, calling out his Fanged Pursuit Jutsu.

"I don't know why you bother. What use is your Jutsu if you can't even find me? But I can find you… blindly falling into my trap… you disappoint me, Kakashi. I think you're right; it is time to put an end to this." Zabuza teased.

Kakashi slowly stood to his full height again, while Erina could hear the sound of his hounds finding Zabuza and immobilizing him.

"I realized if I couldn't see you, I'd have to smell you out. I was calling forth my ninja hounds, they can track a scent anywhere. When you attacked us, I let you get past our guards, I wanted you to cut us. You see, it's the smell of our blood on your blade that led them to you. Are you surprised? Looks like I wasn't the only one who was blind." Kakashi explained.

Zabuza gasped, "That's why she…" he trailed off.

Erina smiled at Zabuza, tapping her nose twice again. The mist began to clear rapidly.

"Poor Zabuza, you were always pushing things too far. There was the failed Mizukage assassination, and your attempt at coup d'état. You were forced to flee with the few followers you had, your countries tracker ninja hot on your heels. You became a rogue ninja, whose name was quickly known, even in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Now you're crazy enough to want to go back and try it again. But for that, you need money, and to get it you stooped so low as to be the hired thug of a swine like Gato… all right, Zabuza. Enough talk, time to finish it. But it won't be with sharingan, imitations of some other ninja's tricks. No… it's time I introduced you to," Kakashi quickly made a hand sign. "my own Jutsu."

Erina immediately jumped back fifteen feet, still able to see Kakashi as he continued with his hand signs. The chakra was so strong, it became visible, looking like blue and white lightening, gathering in his hand. The intensity of it blinding.

"You're like a disease, by attacking one you infect all. And you don't care."

Zabuza smiled under the tape covering his face, "You're right, I don't care! These useless little people and their petty little dreams… why should they matter to me?"

Kakashi's anger reflected in the chakra he held in his hand, making it shake violently.

Erina watched closely, as Kakashi began to quickly run at Zabuza who was completely immobile from the hounds. The Lightning Blade was sure to end his life.

Something was wrong, though… Erina sensed a very calm and determined chakra suddenly get much closer.

"Kakashi, _no_!" she cried out, trying to stop him, but by the time she appeared… it was too late.

Haku was now standing in between Zabuza and Kakashi, taking the full force of the Lightning Blade in his chest. Kakashi's hand was right in the chest cavity of the young boy, Haku's hand slowly coming up to grip Kakashi's wrist and keep him still.

The hounds disappeared, Senbon having been thrown into the summoning scroll that brought them.

"He saved your worthless life… at the cost of his own." Kakashi said, looking at Zabuza.

Zabuza laughed a crazed laugh, reaching back for his blade and aiming for Kakashi, regardless if Haku's body still stood between them.

Erina stepped in as quickly as she could, pulling both of them out of the way, pushing them backwards until they were a safe distance from Zabuza.

"You'll pay for that!" Naruto called out.

"No! Stay out of this, Naruto." Kakashi warned. Erina appeared beside him and she kneeled down to gently lay Haku's body on the cement and close his now vacant eyes. "This is our battle. Zabuza belongs to us."

"No. He belongs to _me._" Kakashi growled to Erina when she spoke.

She glanced up at him and saw nothing but anger in his gaze. The next time he aimed for Zabuza, he wasn't going to miss. And he'd be taking blood this time.

Sakura started speaking up, "Naruto! You and Sasuke are okay then?"

Erina looked over to Naruto and saw his expression change to one of pain and guilt.

"What's the matter? Where is Sasuke, anyway?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked away, and Sakura knew what that meant.

"So that's what happened…" Erina said to Kakashi.

Kakashi stood and gently gripped her hand, "Go." He ordered. Not only did he not want her anywhere near him when he killed, he also wanted her to go check on Sasuke. He knew that with Haku, things weren't what they seemed. He also needed to ensure that Naruto didn't lose control again and feed off the Nine Tails chakra.

She nodded and ran over to where the mirrors had been, Sakura and Tazuna close behind her.

They walked towards Sasuke's body lying on the ground, covered in needles, blood everywhere, his face calm.

Sakura fell to her knees in pain, gently placing her hand on Sasuke's cheek. "His body is cold… this isn't just one of his Genjutsu's is it?" she asked quietly.

_Not Sasuke's…_ Erina thought.

She knelt down next to Sasuke's body, watching Sakura. She started rambling about how she always got perfect scores in the Academy, loved showing off how smart she was. Then she voiced the twenty – fifth rule of being a Shinobi – to never show your emotions, no matter the circumstances. She started to cry, the tears falling to Sasuke's cheek. Sakura then fell onto Sasuke's chest, crying her tears into his shirt and praying for his return.

Sakura raised her head and yelled at Erina, "Why aren't you saying anything? Do something! Anything! Bring him back!"

Erina glanced at Sakura but didn't say anything, just started to slowly remove the Senbon from Sasuke's body.

She could hear Kakashi and Zabuza fighting a few yards away, looked up and saw Kakashi and Zabuza standing face to face, but Zabuza's arms hung uselessly at his sides, his blade nowhere to be seen, while Kakashi stood tall.

There was another man that stood between them, short and with a cane and at least thirty other men standing behind him.

_That must be Gato._ She thought.

She leaned over Sasuke and started to pat his face gently at first, increasing the pressure in her hand to be lightly slapping him. _Come on, Sasuke. Wake up._

Erina lifted her head to see Gato approaching Haku's body, she instantly got a bad feeling and jumped towards the short man, hearing him say to Haku's corpse, "That reminds me, you little punk. You grabbed me and nearly broke my arm." His foot pushed Haku's face away a couple times, "I've been meaning to repay you for that." He brought his leg back and kicked Haku's face, then poking it with his cane.

Before he could speak anymore, Erina showed up right in front of him, and gave him a backhanded smack so hard, he fell ten feet away. She was breathing heavily, continued to advance on him, murder now in her eyes.

Kakashi appeared behind her, gripping her waist tightly, "Sandā, stop. This isn't our fight anymore."

"Let me go, Kakashi." She didn't look at him, her voice almost unrecognizable to his ears. "I want to hurt him." He'd never heard her say such words. This was what happened when you pushed her too far. He had only ever seen her like this once before, in their childhood, on the worst day of their lives.

His grip tightened, not letting her go, "I am not letting you near him."

"Why the hell do you care so much?" she yelled, trying to twist out of his embrace. She ended up turning around in his arms and came face to face with him, his sharingan still uncovered. He was able to trap her arms as well, stopping her movements entirely.

"Because your life belongs to me!" he yelled at her, breaking her from the blood lust. He paused for a moment, "We made a promise to each other. Your life belongs to me. And my life belongs to you. That's why I won't let you die so easily." His voice started to quiet near the end, and she slowly slumped into his embrace, giving up on fighting against him. They jumped away together and stood beside Zabuza.

Erina started speaking to him, her voice soft and filled with pain, "Zabuza…"

"Hm?"

"Are you really going to let that excuse of a man do that to Haku?" she asked, turning to him.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch, Haku is already dead." He was angry. "I used him just as Gato used me. I'm sad to see his powers and abilities gone… but the boy himself… nothing."

The words didn't affect her, "Bullshit. He died for you. Protected you. You wouldn't be alive at this moment if it weren't for him. Don't you think you should spend your last minutes protecting him as best you can? Even if it's just his memory?" she walked around to stand in front of him, looking into his dead eyes, her anger now surfacing. "If you ever once cared for him, even the slightest fraction for a moment during your time with him… you won't let him be treated like that. He deserves better. He only became what he did to please you, make you happy. There's a reason why he was the only one that could make you smile. So, don't let his sacrifice be for nothing." She said, staring up at him.

Zabuza didn't say anything for a moment. She couldn't feel anything from him, her own emotions so strong right now, they overrode everything around her.

"You talk too much, woman…" Zabuza's voice said beside her ear. His head was hanging down, tears now streaming steadily down his face. "Your words cut deep… deeper than any blade…" he started to tear at the tape covering his mouth with his teeth, freeing his face for the first time.

He met Erina's eyes again, "Give me a kunai." He said simply.

She didn't break eye contact as she removed one from her necklace, tipped with her deadliest poison, and put it into Zabuza's mouth, immediately jumping back to Kakashi and watching Zabuza slaughter Gato's men.

It lasted a matter of seconds, and Zabuza had stabbed Gato with the kunai, sending him over the bridge into the water. He had multiple spears and swords sticking out of his back, and he slowly made his way over to Haku's body, but fainted before he could reach him, Zabuza apologized to Haku, begging for forgiveness for not ever appreciating what Haku did for him.

Naruto couldn't look anymore, he looked to the side.

"Don't turn away." Kakashi instructed. "When you live like a warrior, this is how it ends." Kakashi knew Erina could understand the hidden meaning in his words.

They soon heard Sakura calling out to Naruto from a few yards behind them, showing that Sasuke was now standing.

"Well, well. Will wonders never cease. Amazing." Kakashi said.

The angry tap of a spear drew their attention again, "Hey! Who's gonna pay us now that Gato's gone?" one of the men from the other side of the bridge taunted.

They threatened to steal from the village, "Not good." Kakashi said to both Erina and Naruto.

"Come on sensei, you must have a Jutsu that can take care of this bunch of losers?" Naruto asked in hope.

"Not right now, I used too much of my chakra." Kakashi looked to Erina, hoping that she would have some kind of idea. But she stood completely still. "Sandā?" he asked quietly. She smiled down at him.

The group of rogues started running at them, before they were only able to get a few feet forward until an arrow came from out of nowhere and stopped them all dead in their tracks. The Village Ninja turned around and saw the entire town rallied behind them weapons at the ready, young, old, women, all gathered to defend their homes.

Naruto smiled and summoned his Shadow Clone Jutsu, Kakashi soon following and doing the same thing. There were now the entire village, five Naruto's, and a terrifying amount of Kakashi's. They called the thugs out, but they quickly retreated to trying to get on to the boat they arrived in as quickly as possible, some even landing in the water.

Kakashi walked over to Zabuza, who asked Kakashi to take him to Haku. Kakashi covered his sharingan and smiled down to Zabuza through his mask, lifting him after he had removed the spears and swords from his back. He slowly walked over to Haku's body and gently placed Zabuza beside Haku. It began to snow, gently cascading all around them gently, slowly.

"It's not cold…" Erina noticed as she held her hand out to catch a few snowflakes in her hand.

Zabuza apologized to Haku, even though he knew he couldn't hear him. Soon, the rays of the sun shined on them, as Zabuza spoke his last words to Haku.

* * *

The five of them made the graves for Zabuza and Haku beside each other, where it was always sunny, overlooking the town. Their graves had identical crosses and flowers on them, Zabuza's blade sticking out over his and Haku's scarf on his cross.

Sakura began to question if the things Zabuza said were true, if it was really the shinobi way to use and be used like tools. Kakashi somewhat confirmed her fears, simply saying that's the way it's always been, and that there was no answer as to how it came to be. It simply became that.

Naruto then declared that he wouldn't follow those rules, but would make sure that every day he was proud of who he was. Kakashi laughed at this, glad to see that Naruto's spirit wasn't dampened in the battle.

Later that morning, when the five ninjas were departing, they thanked the villagers for all their hospitality. Inari made Naruto swear that they would come and visit in the future, which made Naruto start to tear up which then made Inari start to nearly cry. They were both too stubborn to actually cry in front of each other, until Erina came up behind Naruto and bonked him on the head to make him nearly cry tears of pain rather than sadness. This made Inari smile rather than struggle with not crying.

They started to walk down the newly built bridge, Naruto talking about how he was going to get Iruka to buy him a bunch of ramen and tell Konohamaru about the trip to the Land of Waves.

Sakura asked Sasuke out on a date, but he turned her down. Naruto then offered to go out with Sakura, but she threw him twenty feet away. Erina and Kakashi continued on ahead, letting the young Genin enjoy their youth once again.

Not long later, they made it back to their home village, the students immediately going to their own homes.

Kakashi and Erina headed back to their apartment mostly in silence. When they walked through the door, Erina headed for their room and quickly changed into one of his shirts and stole a pair of his sweats. They were far too long for her, but she looked cute in his clothes.

He hung up his Jōnin jacket and settled on the couch, Erina joining him and propping her feet up in his lap, like she always would.

"Kashi, are we going to talk about what happened?" she asked, looking at him.

"Which part?" he was so tired.

"About that kiss." She clarified.

"I had to do something to snap you out of it." He responded quickly with a cool tone, seeming completely uninterested.

She sat up and stood on her feet, moving to stand between his legs. She removed his head band and pulled down his mask, exposing his face completely.

"What is it?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. He tried to stay completely calm, aware she was trying to see if he felt anything for her romantically.

She watched him, not saying anything then sighed, "Nothing." She said, walking away.

"Uh, do you want dinner?" he called after her.

"Follow me." She instead replied.

He hesitantly stood and followed her into their room, where she stood with her back to him and facing their work desk.

"Erina?"

She stepped aside and revealed his huge stack of Make Out Paradise collection, all together and waiting for him. "I thought you more than earned them back." She said, blushing a little.

He couldn't help but smile, embracing her in a tight hug, "Thanks, Erina."

"Don't get all mushy on me." She said, pushing him away playfully.

"So, what are we going to do for dinner tonight?" he asked, putting the collection where it belonged.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, sitting on the bed.

He paused a moment, "Not necessarily." He said.

"Me neither, so let's just go to bed and get some good rest." She said, pulling the covers aside and quickly getting into bed. It was after all quite dark outside, he supposed she was right.

He removed his shirt and joined her, holding her close.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly in her ear.

"What do you mean?"

"That mission was pretty brutal… you went through a lot." He reached a hand up and stroked her hair in the comforting way he knew she loved.

"Yeah. I think I'm okay." She sighed into the sensation, closing her eyes.

"I want you to take the next couple days off, Erina. Rest. And if you need me home, tell me immediately." He ordered.

She didn't respond but rolled her eyes.

He gripped her chin tightly, forcing her to look at him, "I mean it." He nearly whispered against her lips.

She paused for a moment, "Okay…" she promised, looking into his eyes. She was sure there had to be some kind of romantic emotion there behind his gaze, you didn't just do these kinds of things with friends. But as hard as she looked, she couldn't find what she thought for sure she would see.

He released her chin a moment later and pulled her close. She smiled and drifted.

_How long can I keep fooling her?_


	4. The Chūnin Exams Part 1

Erina had taken Kakashi's advice seriously, she needed to rest. He did as well, but he insisted he was well enough to observe their students during their simple missions. It was all mostly going to be D rank for the next little while.

When morning came, Erina didn't have an alarm set, she drifted in and out of a dreamless sleep, warm in Kakashi's arms. It was good to be home. She didn't toss and turn much, until she heard low mumbling and noticed the bed was empty next to her.

"Kakashi?" she asked, sitting up, her eyes still heavy with sleep.

"I'm late."

"I'm shocked." She said with a heavy sarcastic tone and lay back down again, letting the blankets partially cover her. She still wore his shirt, secretly wrapping her arms around herself to trap his scent within her.

"Will you be okay here on your own?" he asked, standing over her, meeting her eyes.

She nodded, "I'm just going to sleep." She yawned.

"Looks like that mission took more out of you than we thought." He said with a worried voice. He sat on the edge of the mattress and looked at her, "I can –- "

"No, Kakashi. You need to train the Genin, they still need to get further along in their team work."

"But –- "

"I'll be fine." She sat up once again and pulled his mask up to cover his face.

"Okay. I'll be home later." He stood and pulled the covers up to her shoulders while she turned to push her face into the pillow.

He walked out of their bedroom and slowly closed the door. When he walked out the front door, he summoned Pakkun.

"What is it?" Pakkun asked, slightly irritated to have been woken up.

"I need you to guard Erina, she's not well and I don't want to take any risks." Kakashi instructed, opening the door slightly for Pakkun to enter.

"Got it." He said simply, hopping up on the couch and laying down.

Kakashi locked the door behind him, and headed off to meet the Genin. He was only three hours late.

* * *

He saw them waiting on the bridge, all three looking partially asleep.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Afraid I got lost on the path of life." It sounded better than he didn't want to get up. He knelt down on the top of the bridge and gave them a small wave, jumping down to their level while Naruto and Sakura were pointing their fingers at him in accusation again for his lame excuse.

Naruto came running up to him, "I'm ready for the next ninja mission, sensei!" he said, barely a foot from Kakashi's face, his fists up in eager excitement. "And hey, no more of this dumb beginner stuff, okay? I want a chance to prove myself, I'm talking a real mission where I can show what I'm made of! I gotta break out and burn it up! See!" Naruto practically had fire burning in his eyes.

"Uh… right, I get it," Kakashi held up his hands to try to calm him down and took a step back, "that's great Naruto… now take it easy, would you?"

Naruto then shot a death glare in Sasuke's direction, who wasn't paying him any attention. He suddenly shouted, "Believe it!"

Kakashi shook his head, "Let us know when you're done fantasizing Naruto, so we can start the mission, alright?"

"Right!" Naruto shot up straight.

"Could you not be so annoying Naruto, just for once?" Sakura said, angry.

Their mission for the day was to pull weeds from a woman's garden, while Kakashi laid back and read his book… and Naruto ended up pulling up not only the weeds, but special herbs the woman had been growing.

When Kakashi got home, Erina hadn't moved from the bed. Pakkun confirmed nothing interesting had happened, and he relinquished Pakkun from his duties. For the first time in a while, Kakashi made dinner and ate by himself. He knew better than to wake Erina from a sleep like this, she needed to recover.

He joined her in bed not long later, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

* * *

He woke earlier the next morning, and was only an hour late today. Erina barely opened her eyes as he left and he didn't feel the need to summon Pakkun today.

Today, their mission was to clean a section of the lake, again while Kakashi was against a tree reading a new book that he had secretly bought earlier that day. Naruto still had a black eye from the woman that had punched him for pulling up her herbs the previous day.

Sasuke and Sakura were surprised to hear Naruto suddenly shout, while he was being pulled down the river, unable to go against the strong current. He started to go over the water fall, but Sasuke had made quick action to run and latch onto a tree and grab Naruto's foot… making sure to call him a loser while he could.

Kakashi handed in the report and headed home, surprised at how much he was missing Erina's constant joking at his expense. He walked through the door and found she was now laying on the floor.

* * *

"Erina?" he called out, running to lift her gently.

"Mhmm…"

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Tried to… shirt…" she could barely keep her eyes open; she was still so exhausted.

This was new for them, she normally could still somewhat function after a mission that consisted of hate filled ninja, but on their last mission, she felt such intense pain from so many different sources, it clearly took more out of her than they expected.

He sighed in relief that was all that happened. "Come on." He lifted her easily, noticing she must weigh three pounds lighter than usual, since she hadn't eaten in two days. He placed her on the bed and leaned down to grab the clean shirt she had tried to put on earlier.

"Here." He gently lifted her to sit up and place the shirt on her shoulders, then pull her arms through. She hardly blinked while he dressed her. He placed her head against the pillow again, watching her for a moment.

It was only nine, but he felt like going to bed early tonight, he wasn't exactly hungry. He only removed his Jōnin jacket and placed it on the desk, keeping his sweats and shirt on, slowly climbing into bed next to her. He propped his head on his hand while he watched her still calm face in the moonlight. His fingers traced her jawline and found their way to her lips. He felt his heart rate increasing. He had to stop.

He dropped his hand and found his place in her neck, inhaling deeply, hoping she would be fully recovered soon.

He woke to the smell of hash browns, eggs and bacon being cooked early in the morning. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Erina wasn't there next to him. He jumped out of bed and saw her doing what she did every morning, making their breakfast.

"Erina?" he asked, walking towards her.

"Morning, Kashi." She smiled and started plating the food.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good. I can join the four of you today." She sat down and started to eat her food. He noticed the small portion on her plate and wondered if it would be enough for her first meal in three days.

He started to eat as well, watching her closely.

"How have the missions been going?" she asked after a few moments of silence between them.

"About as well as you would expect. Naruto keeps getting himself in trouble and trying to prove himself, but the missions are… technically getting completed." He said with a small smile.

"Please tell me you're not just sitting there reading, leaving them to figure it out for themselves?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, I won't." he said, returning her gaze.

She sighed, hanging her head. She stood to collect their plates and place them in the sink.

He followed after her silently, he watched her every move. Taking her by surprise, he kicked her leg out from under her, sending her falling backwards to the floor, but he reached his arms out and caught her easily, holding her suspended inches from the floor.

"What the hell was that for?" she yelled at him, hitting his shoulder.

"You're not joining us today." He stated, standing both of them up.

"Why not?" she asked, still angry.

"You expect me to believe you're fully recovered considering I just easily tripped you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Erina, I've never been able to sneak up on you once, not since we were children. You're not fully recovered yet." He took a step closer to her and glared down.

"Kashi, you can't treat me like a child."

"I'm not," he said, walking into the bed room to gather his Jōnin jacket and put it on, pulling his mask up and getting ready. "I'm treating you like my partner." He said before he vanished in his puff of smoke.

"Damn it." She said, running to the door and quickly putting her jacket on as well, returning to her regular ninja gear wear.

But when she tried to open the door, it was locked. She paused, then felt that Kakashi had placed a timed Jutsu on the entire apartment that wouldn't release until he either got home, or whatever time he had set it to expire.

"Kakashi!" she yelled to him, knowing he was nowhere near the apartment anymore.

_Sorry, Erina… you'll thank me later._

He arrived at the meet destination early and found the Genin there already.

"When is Sandā joining us again?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi noticed Sasuke's interest pique at the mention of Erina. "Soon. Most likely tomorrow." He said, reading out their mission for the day. Naruto was not happy. It was dog walking. And while trying to challenge himself and prove his skills, he chose to walk the biggest dog and it dragged him around all day until it walked into a mine field, Naruto barely avoiding all the traps that were going off and escaped with himself and the dog, but covered in dirt and smoke.

After they had safely hoisted Naruto up on their shoulders between Sasuke and Sakura, they made their way back into town, finished with the mission.

"Look at you, you're hopeless, Naruto." Sakura lectured.

"Hn, you really are just one big problem." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto took offense, and lunged for Sasuke. Sakura had reached her arm out to stop him, threatening that if Naruto kept this behavior up, she would beat him up herself.

Kakashi sighed, "Guess we're not making a lot of progress on the team work thing, huh?"

"That's right, our team work's all messed up and it's all because of you, Sasuke. You think you're better than everyone else?" Naruto yelled, raising his fist to Sasuke's back.

"Not everyone, just you. Face it, I'm better and stronger than you are. It's a fact." He stopped walking away and turned around, "Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong." He challenged.

There was silence for a few moments, the tension between Naruto and Sasuke very noticeable.

"_Enough_." Yelled a familiar voice from a tree branch.

They all turned and saw Erina was there, an angry look on her face. She jumped down from the tree and landed silently next to all of them.

"Sandā!" Kakashi said, taking a step back in shock and fear.

"This is how you've been training them, Kakashi?" she asked, walking towards him.

"Uh…" he didn't know how to explain himself.

"And your idea of keeping me home was to lock me inside?" she said, getting angrier by the second.

"I can explain that –- " He tried to beg for a moment to talk, but she wasn't having it.

"Kakashi, you're in so much trouble." She started walking faster towards him, their students watching with confusion.

But before she could get close to him, they heard a sound, stopping their movements immediately. They both looked up at the sky and saw an eagle, circling above them. Their gazes dropped and they made eye contact.

"The day is finished, guys." Erina instructed.

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Sasuke said, walking away again.

Sakura chased him, leaving a sad Naruto behind.

Erina didn't break eye contact with Kakashi, not even turning towards the Genin. She was pissed, he could tell.

Sakura suggested to Sasuke that they do something more 'personal' to improve their 'team work'. Sasuke started telling her that instead of flirting, she should be honing her skills to improve the team, then walked away with a comment that she was worse than Naruto when it came to ninja skills.

"Don't worry, Sakura! Just forget about Sasuke, you and me can develop our team work all day!" Naruto suggested with enthusiasm.

Erina broke her concentration on Kakashi and glanced at Naruto, only to now be looking at a puff of smoke.

She scoffed, "Wuss." She mumbled, turning towards Naruto and Sakura now.

"Look, you guys should just head home. Sasuke does have a point, improving on individual skills is just as important as improving team work. And unfortunately, to improve on team work, you need the entire squad, not just two." She walked towards them and winked, jumping away to a nearby tree. She needed time to think of a way to get back at Kakashi.

Before she could get too deep in thought, Naruto began to have a perfectly square, moving 'rock' behind him. He noticed, but started running back and forth, the rock chasing him closely. Erina could sense the three different chakra signatures hiding underneath. Naruto came to a sudden stop and pointed his finger at the rock, "That's the worst disguise of all time! There's no such thing as square rocks! It's completely obvious!"

"You saw through my camouflage again! You're slick boss. Just what I'd expect from my greatest rival." Came a muffled voice from underneath the cardboard rock disguise, pink, blue and green smoke blowing up to reveal three small student's underneath it.

"I think we used a little too much gun powder, you guys…" the middle one said, while they all coughed.

_Konohamaru._ Erina smiled and laughed slightly.

Naruto asked why they were here, and the young students reminded him he promised he would play with them. But he claimed he needed to train, beginning to act cool in front of them.

Sakura walked over slowly, looking very dejected. Erina could sense irritation and anger from her, while Naruto was – unsurprisingly – feeling confused.

Sakura stood there and stared at Naruto, while Naruto's face began to turn red. He gave a nervous laugh. Konohamaru tugged on his sleeve, asking who she was. He looked closely at her, and seemed to come to a conclusion. He smirked.

"I get it. You're a smooth operator, boss. Come on, I know that she's your…" Konohamaru turned towards Naruto and lifted his pinkie, smirking even more, "Girlfriend."

"Oh dear." Erina said to herself, still watching from the tree, while Sakura grew incredibly angry at the young boy's assumption.

Naruto laughed nervously again, blushing now. "Well you can tell she's really crazy about me." Naruto said, grinning.

"As if!" Sakura yelled and punched him in the face, his nose now bleeding, knocking him into a wooden fence.

Konohamaru raised his fist in anger at Sakura, "What kinda girlfriend are you?" he yelled. "You're a witch! And you're ugly, too!"

Sakura walked towards Konohamaru slowly, cracking her knuckles. Konohamaru slowly tried to back away, but she gave him a hard bonk to his head, knocking him over to where Naruto was.

Sakura began to walk away, feeling glad she got to hit the two boys, while the other two young students tried to check and see if they were okay.

Erina continued to watch.

Konohamaru and Naruto stood on shaky legs, "I don't even think she's human. Did you see how wide her forehead is?" Konohamaru asked Naruto.

"Uh oh." Erina said, waiting for the inevitable moment Sakura would turn around and chase them down.

Which happened about three seconds later. All four of them started running away as quickly as they could, but Konohamaru smacked right into a student from another village that stood tall over all of them.

The strange ninja looked down at them, "Do you need something?" he asked. His female partner didn't say anything.

The boy leaned down to pick up Konohamaru by the scarf around his neck, nearly choking him.

"So, does this hurt, punk?" he asked, nearly tossing Konohamaru around.

"Put him down, Kankuro. Or you know you'll pay for it later." The young girl said.

"Hey, I'm sorry. The whole thing was my fault." Sakura tried to explain, while fear was plainly written on her face.

"We got a few minutes before he gets here, let's mess with these punks." The male suggested.

Konohamaru started to kick at the Genin's chest, trying to get him to release his scarf.

Naruto grew angrier when Konohamaru wasn't released and ran at them. The stranger lifted his hand and started to move his fingers and Naruto's feet stopped and he was thrown off balance, being sent to land on his back.

"Hmm…" Erina observed.

Naruto continued to make idle threats to the stranger until Sakura put him in a choke hold to stop him from talking. The boy responded with a bored tone and claiming they were all annoying, raising his fist to Konohamaru.

"I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings." He started claiming he was going to break Konohamaru in half, and the female sighed, turning away, insisting she had nothing to do with any of it.

When he pulled his fist back to hit Konohamaru, Naruto started running at him, but a rock shot out from another tree beside Erina. She sensed Sasuke's chakra signature and stayed hidden. She wanted to see how he handled himself against the Sand Village's number one, Gaara.

Konohamaru was released so quickly he fell hard onto the ground, while the boy held his hand in pain, looking up to see Sasuke sitting on the tree branch and tossing another rock up into the air.

"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league." Sasuke said.

Sakura looked up to the tree and started yelling in excitement, while Naruto and the boy named Kankuro looked at Sasuke with anger and jealousy; the female from the Sand Village was slightly blushing.

"Great, another wimp to tick me off." Kankuro said, glaring at Sasuke still.

Sasuke responded by crushing the pebble in his hand to dust, "Get lost."

Sakura, and the other two young students started to instantly gush at him, while Konohamaru demanded to know why Naruto wasn't as cool as Sasuke, to which Naruto said he would have been able to defeat Kankuro in two seconds.

"Hey punk, get down here." Kankuro taunted. Sasuke didn't respond. "You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up." He reached to his back and pulled free what looked to be a body wrapped in tape.

"What? Are you gonna use the crow for this?" the female asked in fear.

"Kankuro… back off." A very calm voice sounded from behind Sasuke.

Everyone froze, and Erina felt Sasuke's fear. She didn't need to see who it was.

"You're an embarrassment to our village." Gaara said calmly, standing upside down on the branch.

Erina decided it was safe to leave. Gaara seemed to be in control of his team. She needed to get to the meeting.

Jumping away, she quickly made it to the Hokage's visitation quarters, everyone already lined up.

Kakashi met her outside. "Well?"

"It'll be difficult this year." She said simply, walking with him to join everyone else.

"Did you see him?" Kakashi lowered his voice.

She nodded, "He's strangely calm." She responded with an unsure voice.

Everyone was called to attention when The Hokage stepped in, sitting down in front of them.

"I have summoned you for a very important purpose…" he started. "seeing your fellow Jōnin here, I'm sure you realize what this is about."

"So soon?" Kakashi asked. "I thought we had a little more time."

"I take it all the other lands have already been notified about the coming event?" Asuma asked. "I noticed some of their Genin have already arrived here in the village."

"And?" Kurenai asked. "When do we start?"

The Hokage paused. "We will begin in one week."

Kakashi was surprised at this, "That's pretty short notice."

The Hokage blew out the smoke he had inhaled from his pipe. "Take heed. Exactly seven days from today, on the first day of July, the Genin will be gathered and tested. Only the very best will be selected as Chūnin."

Erina sighed, looking away. She didn't know if the students were ready. She'd have to talk to Kakashi and gather his opinion.

"Alright. It is time we chose our candidates for the Chūnin Examinations." The Hokage demanded.

_Damn. I was hoping we would be given a day or two to decide on the candidates. _Erina grimaced and met Kakashi's eyes. He nodded.

"To begin, will those in charge of the rookie Genin step forward."

Erina sighed and stepped forward with Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. She had to trust Kakashi's opinion on this one.

"Kakashi, Sandā, Kurenai and Asuma. What do you say? Are there any in your squads you'd recommend?" The Hokage asked. "So Kakashi and Sandā, you begin."

Kakashi formally introduced his team with their full names, and recommended all three of their students. Sandā voiced that she officially agreed with his decision. Kurenai did the same, as well as Asuma. With those words, all nine of the villages Genin were now qualified to apply for the Chūnin Exams.

"Hold on just a minute!" Iruka shouted at them. "Lord Hokage, with all respect, the nine names that were just given were all my students at the academy. I know their skills and abilities. Every one of them has great promise, but it's too soon. They need more experience before they are tested. If they try now, they'll fail the exam." Iruka argued against all three Jōnin's decisions.

Kakashi turned to Iruka, "When I became a Chūnin, I was six years younger than Naruto is now."

"Naruto is nothing like you!" Iruka yelled.

Erina immediately jumped in front of Kakashi, meeting Iruka's gaze. "Iruka, calm down. I know you're protective –- " she didn't get the chance to finish.

"Are you trying to destroy him?" Iruka stepped towards Kakashi and Erina.

"Well, they're always complaining about not being challenged enough. Maybe wiping out on the exams will teach them a lesson. A little pain is good." Kakashi said, slightly bored.

"Kakashi –- " Erina tried to speak up again.

"What did you say?" Iruka was getting angrier.

"Well, nothing fatal of course. But seriously, Iruka. Relax." Kakashi was practically taunting Iruka at this point.

Iruka was stunned at Kakashi's easy going attitude.

"I understand how you feel, it's very personal for you and it upsets you, but –- " he didn't get to finish his sentence before Kurenai interrupted him.

"All right, Kakashi. Back off, you've said enough." She tried to diffuse the situation.

"On the contrary, Kurenai. Iruka needs to hear this." Erina could feel Kakashi getting aggravated. "He needs to realize that they're not his students anymore. They're _ours._" He said with authority in his voice.

Iruka tried to find a plausible argument against Kakashi's point. "But these exams could destroy them!"

"Iruka, I understand how you feel. We will hold a special preliminary test." The Hokage had suggested, settling everyone's emotions.

With that, everyone was dismissed.

It was nearing the end of the day and Erina and Kakashi headed home.

Kakashi sighed, "Why must being a sensei be so stressful?" he asked, looking up at the sky.

"I'd call it karma for you locking me in the apartment." Erina said with a dry sarcasm.

"I didn't want you to push yourself." Kakashi said quietly.

They approached the front door and Kakashi began to unlock it.

"I know my limits, Kashi." She said, fighting a smile.

"Want me to make us dinner in return?" he asked, his hand on the handle.

"No, that won't be necessary." She said, "I ordered us dinner."

"Oh… well… okay…" he watched her carefully. She could feel the suspicion from his thoughts, trying to figure out what she was up to.

"Don't worry, I haven't touched your books. The same joke isn't funny twice." She said, sighing dramatically.

"Hm… alright." He decided to let it go, and opened the door to step inside.

Only to be bombarded by all eight of their ninkin jumping on him and licking him.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind. But I told them that you would be preparing their dinner tonight." Erina smiled down to Kakashi's hair, the only thing visible from beneath all the dogs. She started to walk inside, passing by all the wagging tails and happy barks.

"Wait! Help me up!" he called out from the deck.

She laughed and walked back over, reaching her hand out to pull him up. His hair was a mess, his mask was half off with his head band now untied. She shook her head and placed the head band back over his sharingan. His hands came up and stopped her.

She looked into his mismatched eyes. "I forget how clever you can be at times." He smiled, pulling his mask down all the way.

She reached her hand up and fixed his hair with her fingers, "That's what you get for trapping me in the house." She lowered her hands a moment later and passed him his Leaf head band, heading back inside. She whistled once and the dogs followed her obediently.

"Why do they always listen to you and not me?"

"Because you spoil them." Erina said, smiling at him.

Pakkun jumped onto the couch again and waited patiently for his dinner. Kakashi quickly cooked up some steaks for all eight of the dogs. It was relatively quick since they preferred it practically raw.

Before he could start plating his and Erina's dinner, she stood in front of him, reaching her hand up to unzip his Jōnin jacket.

"You'll get this dirty." She said simply, completely unaware of her effect on him.

He stayed completely still, trying to control his breathing and thoughts. If she found him out now, he'd be finished.

She slowly unzipped the jacket and moved her hands down the back of his arms to remove it completely, walking away to hang it up. It only lasted a few seconds, but to Kakashi, it felt like hours.

He busied himself with their dinner again, sitting at the table with her. The ninkin had finished already, and were resting comfortably with full bellies.

They both smiled at each other and he had them disappear in their puff of smoke.

"Do you really think they're ready?" Erina asked quietly. She didn't need to clarify who.

"Yeah. They'll do fine." He genuinely believed all three Genin were ready for the Exams. "Are there any other surprises waiting for me?" he asked.

"No," she laughed and shook her head. "It was just the dogs."

"Hmm…" he cleared the table and sat on the couch. She joined him after she had changed into one of his shirts, this time a long sleeved one.

He pulled his book from his Jōnin jacket pocket and started to read, listening to Erina's soft breathing next to him. Her feet were on his lap like always, but he didn't remember seeing her grab a book. When he glanced over, he saw she was fast asleep.

He sighed and shook his head, gently moving her feet from his lap to lean down and pick her up and cradle her in his arms.

_Why didn't you listen to me?_ He thought to himself.

He turned the lights off behind him and placed the book down on the desk, pulling the covers aside. He joined her under the thicker blankets she had brought out and held her close. She stirred, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

He smiled and returned the gesture, hoping while he drifted that their students were indeed ready for the exam.

* * *

"Kakashi!" Erina yelled into his ear and woke him from a dead sleep, making him fall from the bed on to the floor.

"What was that for?" he asked, grumpy.

"We're late, come on."

"We're always late. We can sleep a few more hours." He said, climbing back into bed.

"Nope." She blocked his way by sitting in the middle of the bed cross legged. "Get dressed, we're leaving."

"But I'm still tired." He nearly whined.

She sighed, "So am I, but we're instructors now, we have to set an example."

"You do remember who our students are, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Erina stood and threw his clothes at him, "Get dressed. I want you out here in five minutes." She walked out into the living room and started drinking a cup of tea. The five minutes were up and she walked back in and saw Kakashi had turned the lights out and was asleep in the middle of the bed, his legs hanging off the side.

"Wake up!" she yelled into his ear.

"No." He mumbled, grabbing a pillow to cover his head with it.

"Kakashi…" She warned. He didn't stir. "Alright. You brought this on yourself." She said, gripping his feet and pulling him off the bed towards the shower door.

"I mean it, Kashi. This is your last warning."

"Yeah, yeah." He mumbled again, covering his eyes against the light.

She reached up and grabbed the shower head, turning the water onto warm and blasted him in the face.

"Ah!" he jerked up and was now soaking wet on his chest and head. "What are you doing?" he asked, trying to block the water with his hands.

"Waking you up." She said, turning the water off and placing the shower head back.

"Like this?" he nearly yelled.

"If you weren't so damn stubborn all the time, I wouldn't have had to." She said, stepping over him.

He shook some of the water off and grabbed a towel, drying his hair and shirt as best he could. He met Erina outside the front door, giving her a glare.

"I warned you." She said, locking the door.

He pouted, walking towards the bridge.

"Crap, I forgot the forms!" Kakashi realized, patting down his pockets and finding them empty of what he was looking for.

"I didn't." she said, holding them up in front of his face.

He snatched them away, pouting again and disappearing in his puff of smoke to re – appear on the top of the bridge, while Erina walked up to the students.

He gave a lame excuse as to why they were late again, and he jumped down to stand next to Erina.

"I know this is a bit sudden, but we recommended you for the Chūnin Exams. All three of you. These are the application forms." He held out the three pieces of paper Erina had given to him moments ago.

"Application forms?" Sakura said.

"Oh hey, an echo." Erina said, holding a hand to her ear.

"This is all voluntary. It's up to each of you. If you don't feel ready, you can wait until next year." Kakashi explained.

Before a second had passed, Naruto was jumping on to Kakashi in a big hug, "Alright! Kakashi sensei, you rock!" Naruto yelled into his ear.

"Don't slobber on my vest!" Kakashi said, putting Naruto down. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application form and come to room 301 at the academy. It's at three p.m. five days from now. That's it." With that, they left their students to think it over.

A few minutes later, they met Iruka at their apartment, Iruka eager to test the three Genin and see how far they've come.

"We'll be here, waiting." Erina said while Iruka disappeared to test his old students.

Kakashi put his feet up on the table and his head fell back on a loud sigh.

Erina preoccupied herself with watching all the Genin from the other village's enter through the gates, trying to see if any stuck out to her. But the one she was most worried about was Gaara.

An hour went by and it was dark, Kakashi followed Erina up to the roof to watch the moon for a while.

Iruka appeared behind them.

"So, how did it go?"

"They all made it. Your squad and the others. You were right, Kakashi. They're good, they've all developed very impressive skills."

"Mhmm… but the Chūnin Exams can break anyone. We'll see if they can tough it out." Kakashi said, looking somewhat mournful.

Erina invited Iruka to stay on the roof with them, talking amongst each other late into the night.

* * *

**Five Days Later**

* * *

Erina next woke up in their bed, Kakashi not beside her.

"Kashi?" she called out. It was a little before dawn. She knew exactly where he would be.

She dressed quickly and saw his Jōnin jacket and shoes were gone. She quickly made it to the training ground where they first tested Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

She found him standing in front of the memorial stone. She walked up and stood beside him.

"It's been a while since I found you here." She said quietly.

"Naruto is a lot like him… it brings back memories." Kakashi said slowly.

She could feel his guilt and pain, shared it with him. They both quietly relived the day their two best friends were taken from them.

Hours went by, and they hadn't moved, standing silently and letting their thoughts consume them. It was only the sound of the gathering Genin in the building not far from them that brought them back to reality.

"Come on. We'd better go." He said, jumping away to head towards the students. She followed without saying anything.

They watched as the Genin gathered in front of the door that two Jōnin were guarding in disguise as younger versions of themselves. They saw Guy's team, and their own students. Sasuke demanded the two men reverse the Genjutsu, showing everyone, they were in fact only on the second floor. Erina smiled at how Sasuke made a point to praise Sakura's mind in quickly seeing past these kinds of things. She sat down on the edge of the ceiling where a thin balcony was, while Kakashi continued to stand.

One of the Jōnin guarding the door quickly attempted to attack Sasuke, who quickly tried to defend himself. But someone intervened.

With just one hand to each leg, a boy blocked both kicks, stopping the fight before it began.

"He looks familiar." Erina said with heavy sarcasm, looking up at Kakashi.

"Only Guy would have a student like that." He sighed.

The two team mates of Guy's look – a – like started to give the boy trouble, saying they all agreed to keep a low profile.

The boy didn't take much notice of his team mates, but was fixated on Sakura. He walked right past Sasuke, and introduced himself.

"My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right?"

"Huh?" Sakura was confused.

Lee held a thumbs up and winked, "Please be my girlfriend. I vow to protect you with my life." He smiled.

"Gah!" Kakashi jumped back like he had been slapped.

"He's definitely Guy's student." Erina looked down with terror at the doppelgänger.

"Definitely… not." Sakura answered.

"Why?" Lee whined.

"Because you're a weirdo!" Sakura said, while Lee hung his head in rejection and Naruto laughed.

Neji Hyuga demanded to know Sasuke's name, which he didn't give. Naruto became depressed that no one wanted to know his name, and Lee was still disappointed in Sakura's answer.

Their students walked away from the others' heading in the direction of the real third floor. Lee followed them soon after, informing his own team he would meet up with them in a few minutes.

"Here we go." Erina said so only Kakashi could hear.

"Looks like it." Kakashi agreed, both of them jumping away to silently follow their students, studying them.

"Hey, you! With the attitude! Hold on!" Lee called out to Sasuke.

All three of them stopped and Sasuke didn't look impressed. "What do you want?"

"I want to fight. Right here and right now."

"You wanna fight me here and now, huh?" Sasuke seemed interested.

"Yes." Lee agreed and jumped down to the floor, "My name is Rock Lee. You said it was common courtesy for a challenger to give his own name first, right? Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hmm… so you know me."

Lee took an offensive stance, "I challenge you! Everyone is always talking about the Uchiha Clan, and how great they are. I want to see if it is true, I figure you would be a good test for me. And also…" his gaze drifted to Sakura, who visibly shook from being disturbed. "Oh, Sakura… I love you!" he proclaimed loudly with a blush.

Kakashi hung his head.

"To think the guy that trained him is your greatest rival." Erina smirked.

"Shut up." Kakashi said with a smile.

Sakura started freaking out, listing all the reasons why Lee's physical appearance weirded her out.

"You are an angel sent from heaven!" he said, winking and sending her a kiss. She dodged it effectively, acting as if it was something that could physically touch her.

Lee tried again, and sent her multiple kisses and winks. She dodged all of them, bonking her head on the floor.

Kakashi and Erina watched with fear. "Hey, Kashi..."

"…Yeah?" he answered back quietly.

"Do me a favor…"

"…What's that?"

"…Gauge my eyes out." She said, looking up at him with a begging look.

"Not before you gauge mine out." He said, looking back down at the students.

"So, you've heard of the Uchiha Clan and yet you're challenging me? You must be even more psycho than you look." Sasuke said, bored with what was happening. "You wanna know more about my clan? Then I'll teach you the hard way."

Lee took an offensive stance again, waiting for Sasuke to make his move.

"Hold it!" Naruto interrupted everything. "I get him first. This weirdo is mine."

"Go for it." Sasuke said.

"Naruto!" Sakura wanted to argue, but Naruto stopped her.

"What? It'll take me two minutes."

"No thank you. Right now, the only one I want to fight is Uchiha." Lee denied Naruto.

"Well I've got news for you! Sasuke can't compare to me!" Naruto started running at Lee.

Lee didn't move for the first moment, allowing Naruto to get closer. Naruto made a fist and aimed to hit Lee in the face, but Lee simply adjusted his wrist so his palm was now facing down and tapped the top of Naruto's fist, sending him flying to the left.

Naruto quickly adjusted and landed with both his hands on the floor, turning to try to get a kick in, which Lee dodged easily, then kneeling down to reach his leg out and knock Naruto's hand from under him, sending him spinning around in circles into a wall.

"Just accept it, you have no chance against me, your skills are inferior. You see, Sasuke. Out of all the Top Leaf Genin, I am the best. Fight me and I will prove it to you." Lee took the same stance again.

Sasuke thought for a moment, then smirked. "This'll be fun. Let's do it."

"There's no time, Sasuke. We've got to register by three o'clock, that's less than half an hour." Sakura insisted.

"Relax, this'll all be over in five seconds." Sasuke said, then started running at Lee, aiming to land a punch to his head.

Lee disappeared and re – appeared behind him, trying to land a kick, Sasuke ducked, Lee landed with his palms on the floor, twisting around quickly to aim another high kick at Sasuke.

The kick landed on Sasuke's cheek, sending him flying back on his side.

Erina and Kakashi leaned forward in interest, surprised at Guy's top pupil.

"I knew he was good, but not that good." Erina said.

When Sasuke stood and looked up at Lee again, he had activated his sharingan.

"You still haven't warned him?" Erina asked.

"No, not yet." Kakashi said, not taking his eyes off Sasuke.

Erina could feel the confidence coming from Sasuke as he ran directly at Lee again, sure the sharingan would win him this fight. But Erina wasn't sensing any tricks going on. She doubted the sharingan was what Sasuke needed right now.

As she expected, Lee kicked Sasuke in the face again, sending him up into the air.

"You see, my technique is not Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." Lee explained.

Sasuke landed on his feet, shaking from the frustration and confusion of what was going on. Lee started to make quick moves at Sasuke, not giving him time to defend or think. He landed an elbow to Sasuke's stomach.

"Do you get it now? I am using Taijutsu, that means no tricks, Sasuke." Lee disappeared and re – appeared behind Sasuke again, "It is just straight martial arts, nothing more." Lee taunted.

"Why you –- " Sasuke tried to elbow Lee, but he dodged it by jumping back.

Lee started to explain he knew all about how the sharingan worked, how it could duplicate any Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, but Taijutsu was a different matter depending on the user. Lee was strictly trained in Taijutsu, making him too fast for Sasuke to keep up. Even if his eyes can read the movements, his body can't physically keep up with them.

"He's right." Erina said, impressed by how well-informed Guy's student was.

Sasuke growled his annoyance.

Lee continued on with explaining how there were two types of people in the world. Those that were born into great ability, like Sasuke with his sharingan, and those that had to work hard every day of their lives, like himself.

Sasuke ran at Lee, not listening to his words, but Lee landed another kick, sending Sasuke flying through the air like before. But unlike last time, Lee vanished from where he was standing and appeared behind Sasuke in mid – air.

"Dancing Leaf Shadow." Erina voiced, worried for Sasuke now. If he lost to Lee before the Exams even started, he'd lose his mind. She could feel the anger from him, the hatred for both Lee and his own weakness.

"Now I will prove my point." Lee said, the bandages around his arms starting to unwrap. "That hard work beats out natural talent."

"Don't you think we should stop him?" Kakashi asked, looking down at Erina.

"There's no need." She said.

A second later, a miniature windmill toy was thrown at Lee's bandages and pinned them to the wall.

Everyone looked over to where it had come from, and saw a huge turtle.

"All right that's enough, Lee!"

Erina could feel the fear now coming from Lee.

"Someone's in trouble." She mused.

Sasuke began to fall and was about to land on the floor, but Sakura ran to him and caught him, helping him up. Lee was kneeling in front of the large turtle.

"You… you were watching us the whole time?" Lee asked quietly.

"Of course! That last technique is forbidden, you know that!" the turtle yelled at him.

Lee tried to defend himself, but the turtle kept yelling at him, saying Lee knew that shinobi never revealed their Jutsu's unless absolutely necessary.

Naruto woke and ran over to Sasuke and Sakura, pointing at the turtle.

"He actually thinks the turtle is Lee's teacher." Erina said, hanging her head.

The turtle began asking if Lee was prepared for the punishment of his actions, summoning Guy.

Guy appeared on top of the turtle, standing in a ridiculous pose. Erina jerked back, Kakashi sighing at Guy's antics.

"Hey, everybody! What's shaking! Life treating you good?" Guy announced his arrival with as much enthusiasm as he did for everything.

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura began insulting Guy's appearance as they had Lee's when they first met, which Lee heard and started to yell at them to stop mocking his sensei. Naruto and Lee got into a screaming match, but Guy terminated the argument.

He walked towards Lee, "Now for your punishment." He pulled back a fist and punched his student in the face, sending him backwards. "You fool!"

Lee landed hard and Guy walked towards him, kneeling down, "I'm sorry, Lee… but it's for your own good…" Guy started to tear up.

"S-sensei…" Lee was now starting to cry as well.

The two started crying dramatically and hugged, while the others watched on in disturbed confusion.

"I can't." Erina stood and walked away, Kakashi following her. Their students would be at the entrance soon anyway.

They waited at the door marked 301, the long hallway showing their students five minutes later. Erina could still feel Sasuke's fury at losing to Lee. She had to guess that when they met Guy, he couldn't resist showing off his skills to them. And probably mentioning their constant rivalry.

Their students now stood in front of them, ready and listening. "Glad you came, Sakura. For your sake and the others." Kakashi started, surprising the Genin. "Now, you can all formally register for the Chūnin Exam." He finished.

"Why? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

Erina spoke up, "You see, only groups of three are allowed to apply for and take the exam. That's the way it's always been." She stood with her arms crossed.

"But Sandā, Kakashi sensei said the decision to take the exam was up to the individual." Sakura said, confused.

"That's right, I did." Kakashi simply answered, not elaborating any further.

"Was that a lie?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi looked away for a moment. "Sort of… it is an individual decision, but it affects all of you. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want the other guys pressuring you." Kakashi explained.

"At the same time, we didn't want you feeling obliged to participate because of any feelings you may have for Sasuke… or Naruto. We wanted you to come to a decision of your own free will." Erina explained as well.

"Wait a minute… do you mean if the others had shown up but I decided not to come with them –- "

"It would have been the end of the line." Kakashi finished for her. "If you hadn't come along, I couldn't have let the others in. But it's a moot point, you're all here and for the right reasons."

"Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto…" Erina stepped forward and looked at them carefully. "We're proud of you." She smiled and Kakashi did as well, though it was hard to see under his mask.

"We couldn't have asked for a better team." Kakashi finished for Erina, while they both stepped aside from the doors. "Good luck."

"We won't let you down, sensei's! Believe it!" Naruto said, walking with his team mates to open the door.

The doors closed behind them, and Erina gripped Kakashi's hand tightly. They both bowed their heads, praying their students would pass the exam.

Moments later, they heard Naruto shouting to all the other Genin that he would beat them. Kakashi met Erina's gaze and they laughed, their tension releasing from their shoulders.

"Come on, we should meet up with the others." Erina started walking towards the other side of the building, Kakashi walking closely behind her.

They sat down and saw Asuma and Kurenai join them moments later, Asuma smoking a cigarette as usual. Only a few minutes passed until Kakashi started speaking.

"It's quiet without the rookies around." He said, nearly mumbling.

"It was." Erina said, leaning back on the cushion, gazing at the ceiling.

"Hm. I almost miss them." Kakashi said.

Erina sighed, "Yeah, me too."

"Don't worry. Chances are they'll be back again sooner than you think." Asuma said.

This stole Erina's attention, "Why's that?"

"I heard that they're first examiner this year is Ibiki."

Kakashi startled for a moment. _So, already their chances of passing look iffy. _Kakashi leaned back, resting his arm on the cushion behind Erina's shoulders. "Great, sticking them with that sadist right off the bat." He said, now gloomy.

"What sadist?" Kurenai asked.

Asuma laughed, "I forgot you're a new Jōnin, Kurenai. Otherwise you wouldn't have to ask that."

"So, I'm ignorant, who is he?" she asked.

"He's what you might call… a specialist." Kakashi explained.

"In what?"

Asuma took a long drag of his cigarette, "Interrogation. Torture."

Kurenai looked startled.

"Of course, he won't be using physical torture during the test, he won't need to. That's not really his thing anyway. He works on people's minds, not their bodies. He's famous for it. Everyone knows about the head of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Corp for the Hidden Leaf Village: Ibiki Morino." Asuma explained.

They all fell into silence after Asuma gave his explanation. The hour passed by quickly, and they received word from a messenger that all nine of their students had passed the first exam.

"Well… how about that." Erina smiled and sighed, laying back again.

* * *

**Five Days Later**

* * *

Erina waited impatiently in the lineup, standing next to Kakashi. She wanted to go check on Sasuke, something was wrong, something had happened in the forest during the second exam. Sakura was acting more and more worried about him, and he consistently shut her down to inform anyone of what was happening. Erina had a bad feeling since the second exam started, but she just played it off like she was worried about her students passing, or even surviving.

She was relieved when she saw all three of them walk through the door where all the other Jōnin and individual captains of each team were standing, waiting for their Genin students to all gather and be given the instructions for the final stage of the exams. But Sasuke was definitely acting strange.

"First of all, congratulations on finishing the second exam." Anko announced loudly so everyone could hear.

Erina was beginning to shift her feet, getting more and more agitated. Kakashi lowered his hand from his pocket and gripped hers tightly, giving her a reassuring squeeze. She turned to face him, and felt his calm energy reach her. She breathed slowly, trying to control herself.

Guy spoke up at that moment, standing beside Kakashi. "I see your team didn't do too bad, Kakashi and Sandā. They must have gotten real lucky." He bowed his head, "Of course with my team still around, your team is doomed to failure. After all, what matters on the next test is ability, and we've got you far outclassed. Well I guess a part of growing up is learning how to deal with heart break, huh Kakashi?" Guy asked, laughing slightly and raising his head to look at his rival.

Kakashi barely blinked, then turned his head and had a confused expression, "Huh? Did you say something?" he asked in his usual bored tone.

Guy practically screamed in frustration, he turned away and raised a fist to no one in particular, shaking now.

Erina giggled and tried to stay quiet. Kakashi looked down to meet her eyes and smiled through his mask, glad she wasn't so upset anymore.

Erina looked closely at all the students, analyzing them individually. She started with Gaara, who didn't have a single scratch on him. She hoped that he didn't have to rely on the power of the One Tail to get through this phase. She hoped he didn't have to rely on it at all, he was gifted enough without needing it. Quite a few of the other students were staring at their own team, more specifically Sasuke. She found it odd that three Sound Village ninja were glaring at him. She made a mental note to speak to Kakashi about it later. She then met the eyes of Kiba's pup ninja hound, Akamaru. The pup's energy was very scared, uneasy.

_I don't like this… something's wrong._

"Alright now pay attention, Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you. You better listen carefully, maggots."

_Seriously, Anko? Calm down. _Erina shook her head.

The Hokage stepped forward and cleared his throat. "First, before I tell you what the third exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now, it's something that all of you need to understand. I'm going to tell you the true purpose of these exams." He continued on, explaining that the exams were also in fact a representation of the battle between allied nations. And that each ninja was practically putting on a show to other countries, showing their strength.

The Genin were beginning to get impatient now, demanding The Hokage explain to them what the third exam was. But before The Hokage could do just that, the Proctor appeared and asked permission to do something first. The Hokage granted his blessing.

"There's something I would like all of you to do before the third exam…" this caught Erina and Kakashi off guard. "We have to have a preliminary exam before we can move on to the real one."

"Preliminary? Just what do you mean by that?" Shikamaru yelled.

Erina glanced at Kakashi, but he was focused on the Proctor. This was very odd, there had never had to be a preliminary exam before the actual one before.

Sakura leaned over to be seen and asked why such a thing was necessary. The Proctor explained that the first and second exams were possibly too easy, and that they never expected so many to get to this point. "According to the rules of the Chūnin Exams, a Preliminary round can be held at any stage, in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining."

He continued on when Sakura started to question if such a thing was fair to do. The Proctor said they needed to ensure that only the best of the best was given the opportunity to take the final exam, because there were going to be a lot of important people watching.

The Proctor then announced that the preliminary round would begin immediately, much to the frustration of all twenty – one Genin that were standing before them. He then gave them all the only opportunity they would get to bow out of the exams, as it would be one on one combat.

Erina looked at all of them, wondering who would take the opportunity to walk away. Her eye was suddenly drawn to Sasuke, who was shaking and nearly groaning, his right hand tightly gripping the left of his neck. She felt the pain radiating from the same spot on her neck, and knew what it was immediately.

_Orochimaru…_

Kakashi still held her hand, and she started to sub consciously squeeze out of fear.

"Sandā?" he whispered.

She breathed deeply, "Sorry." She released his hand and kept an eye on Sasuke.

Quickly, The Hokage, both Proctors of the first and second exam, were involved in the conversation.

They quietly spoke among themselves, wondering what to do with Sasuke. Anko ordered they remove Sasuke from the exam, hand him over to Black Ops and lock him up to keep the seal under control.

"Oh, and he's just going to quietly go along with all of this, huh?" Kakashi nearly laughed. "You really think so? You're forgetting, he's of the Uchiha Clan."

"I don't care what the hell he is! If he stays, he's a danger to everyone. Don't you see? As he gets stronger, so does the curse mark, that thing is feeding off his chakra. It's a forbidden Jutsu that devours the one who bears it…" Anko's voice began to lower, while she turned around to look at Sasuke. "It's incredible the kid's still standing. By now, he should be dead… Lord Hokage." Anko looked like she was begging the Hokage to remove Sasuke from the exams.

Erina watched their three Genin talk amongst themselves, it seemed that Sakura was getting emotional and Sasuke was trying to stop her from revealing what was happening.

The moment of frustration was broken when a hand raised, and someone asked to be relieved of the exam.

Naruto began to yell at him, calling him Kabuto. Kabuto explained that he just couldn't go through with it, there was apparently no hearing in his left ear from an encounter that happened before the exams even started. The Hokage asked Anko to read Kabuto's information, his grades and missions nothing to be impressed about. But he had walked away from the exams six times in a row.

_Six times?..._ Erina's eyes followed him, and she felt something odd. There was satisfaction, eagerness, and excitement. Why would he be glad to leave the exams for a seventh time? Something was wrong. Someone would only do actions like that when they were gathering intel. But he was from the Leaf Village, what intel could he possibly be gathering?

Erina looked around at all the other Jōnin and captains, meeting the eyes of one she'd never seen before. He bore a Sound Village headband and looked… familiar. He only glanced at her once, and quickly looked away with no interest.

She turned and met Kakashi's eyes and he nodded, in agreement with her unspoken words.

The Hokage began to speak to Anko, "I'm still concerned with what Orochimaru said, but for now allow the boy to continue."

"But Lord Hokage – "

"However, at the first sign of the curse mark growing or his power getting out of control, you will step in and stop it." The Hokage ordered.

Both Proctors nodded in understanding, accepting their orders.

Erina felt the worry now stemming from Kakashi as he watched Sasuke.

The Proctor then explained that the preliminary exam was starting now, and that it was one on one combat, to the death, or until one was physically unable to continue fighting. He urged the students to surrender at an appropriate moment so that there could be as few casualties as possible.

The panel then opened, the Proctor said that each pair of names was chosen completely at random, and for each pair of names that was shown, that would be the match.

They all turned and watched as the names flashed until it landed on two individual names, announcing Sasuke and another Leaf ninja, Yoroi Akado as the first round.

_Damn it._ Erina tried to hold her anger in. She was hoping she and Kakashi would be able to put a seal on the curse mark, control its power a little.

The two Genin stepped forward and the Proctor asked if either of them had any objections. Of course, there were none from either of them.

Kakashi watched Sasuke very closely, ready to jump in if he needed to. Erina took another deep breath, trying to stay calm.

The Proctor ordered everyone except Sasuke and his opponent to clear the area for the battle. They all started to walk up the stairs to the upper level. But Kakashi and Erina walked towards their three Genin. Kakashi walked to stand directly behind Sasuke, so only his ears would hear his voice.

"Sasuke, don't use your sharingan." Kakashi silently ordered.

Sasuke gasped, then smiled. "So, you know about it."

Erina stood behind Sasuke and Kakashi now, still whispering. "If that mark on your neck gets out of control, your life could be in danger." She had to resist the urge to take on a begging tone.

"I'm aware of that." Was all Sasuke said, meeting her eyes with determination.

Kakashi spoke up, "Just to let you know, if it gets to that point, I'll have to step in and stop the fight." He then gripped Erina's hand and they continued walking, like nothing had happened.

"Good luck." Kakashi said with an almost ominous tone.

They continued walking and Erina felt the terror from Sasuke, not from the fact his life could be in danger, but because he may not get the opportunity to advance any further in his training.

_Figure it out, Sasuke… you can still win this with strength and Taijutsu, just don't use your chakra._ Erina thought.

The two Jōnin walked up the set of stairs to join their other two students, looking down to get a perfect view of Sasuke and his opponent.

Kakashi looked over and met Erina's eye again, and she could feel that he shared her worry.

The Proctor then announced the fight was to begin, and Yoroi made the first move, throwing three small shuriken at Sasuke, who grabbed a kunai and was able to send them flying back. He gasped and fell to the floor, the curse mark already acting up.

"Damn it." Erina cursed, watching and gripping the bars tightly.

Yoroi took advantage of Sasuke's pain and was now standing over Sasuke, lunging an attack, but Sasuke quickly dodged, to bring his feet up and kick Yoroi's knee from the back, sending him to the ground, where Sasuke then lifted his left leg to entangle it around his neck, gripping the right arm tightly of his opponent.

"Hey! He got him!" Naruto yelled with happiness.

But Erina and Kakashi knew better than to think this was already over. Yoroi's right hand gripped Sasuke's shirt and chakra was visible, then disappeared, and Sasuke couldn't move as Yoroi lifted his fist and punched Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke shook and groaned from the pain. Yoroi jumped away for a moment, it looked like he was making sure Sasuke was hit, then lunged at him again, his hand emanating chakra and grabbed Sasuke's head, throwing him down to the ground. Sasuke's arm fell limp against the cement.

Kakashi gasped, watching his oldest student appear to be defeated.

"My chakra… what are you doing?" Sasuke gasped.

Erina was able to quickly see that Yoroi's ninja art was that he was able to steal someone's spiritual and physical energy, at the tip of his fingers.

"Don't you think this is a little coincidental?" Erina whispered to Kakashi.

He gripped her hand and pulled her back so they were out of ear shot from Naruto and Sakura.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"It's a little ironic that this particular opponent, whom sought Sasuke out before, has the perfect ability to make Sasuke use the curse mark. Something has to be going on."

"But the names are chosen at random, Sandā." Kakashi said, looking down at Sasuke.

"Not the names, but the fact that ninja is here in the first place."

"What are you saying?"

"I think he was planted here, by Orochimaru. I think he wants to see how strong Sasuke is."

Kakashi thought about this, "I think you're right. But there's nothing we can do. The Hokage has ordered the exams to continue, and he knows about Orochimaru's appearance. We just have to be careful and look after Sasuke." He said, taking her hand in a reassuring hold.

She pouted, "I hate not being able to do anything." She mumbled.

Kakashi nodded, "Me, too."

Sasuke was still held down for a moment longer, then lifted his foot and pushed against Yoroi's chest, freeing himself. It didn't take long for Yoroi to make more attempts, to finish draining Sasuke's chakra. Sasuke was barely able to dodge all of his attacks, making for a kick, but Yoroi jumped away.

Sasuke was beginning to sweat, worry clearly lining his features now. Everyone was beginning to doubt Sasuke's abilities.

Naruto started to groan, "Hey, Sasuke!" he yelled down, "Come on, man! What was that? And you call yourself an Uchiha? You're gonna let this goon walk all over you!" Sasuke had turned around now, facing Naruto. "Come on! Stop messing around and get it in gear!"

At Naruto's words, Erina could feel Sasuke's energy change, he'd thought of something.

Yoroi took full advantage of Sasuke's back being turned to him, Yoroi lunged and made eight attempts to catch Sasuke, but all of them were dodged again. Everyone watched closely.

When Yoroi paused in his attacks for a moment, Sasuke grinned and disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" Yoroi voiced.

Sasuke appeared beneath Yoroi and landed a kick right to his chin, sending him flying up. He landed on all fours and jumped to shadow Yoroi's movements in the air. Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Right when Sasuke was about to make his move, he cried out in pain and coughed up blood. Erina could feel the curse mark acting up on him.

The curse mark could be seen physically spreading on Sasuke's skin, making it look like flames.

Kakashi stared, terrified he would have to end the match and obliterate any hopes Sasuke had of advancing in his training.

_Come on, Sasuke… get it together. You can control it._ Erina gripped Kakashi's hand tightly again, wishing that she could physically go over to him and help.

They were both still in the air, soaring. Only moments later, the curse mark started to recede back to the three points on Sasuke's neck. They all watched in utter astonishment.

Sasuke smiled again, "Here we go." He gripped the back of Yoroi's shirt, to give himself leverage, pushed his body away and forced a kick to Yoroi's side, turning around to change his position in the air to beside Yoroi now, landing the back of his fist to Yoroi's face, sending him flying to the ground. Before Yoroi could hit the cement, Sasuke turned again and twirled to aim his foot right onto Yoroi's chest as he made contact with the cement, the impact breaking it apart.

Sasuke was thrown away and landed a few feet from Yoroi's now unmoving body. Moments passed without a sound.

The Proctor walked over and inspected Yoroi, announcing he was finished. The match was declared over, with Sasuke barely standing.

Erina sighed and released Kakashi's hand, smiling as she met his eyes, "Maybe he should be called The Copy Ninja." She laughed.

Kakashi grinned under his mask, "Maybe."

Sasuke was panting, barely able to stay conscious, and started to fall backward. Kakashi and Erina both appeared behind him in their puff of smoke, in identical positions. One leg straight and the other bent, to support Sasuke's back, keeping him up.

Kakashi now had his book up, covering his face, seeming uninterested. "Hmm… not bad." Sasuke turned his head and smiled at them with a smug attitude. "Funny, before the Lion's Barrage, your technique was very reminiscent of Guy's Taijutsu. You must have used your sharingan to copy it, when you fought with Rock Lee that time."

Erina smiled, "Little copycat." She had to be proud of him, though.

"You okay?" Naruto shouted down with a laugh, "Hey, Sasuke! You won but in such an uncool way! You came out looking like you're the one that got beat up!" Naruto laughed loudly.

"Idiot…" Sasuke groaned, still panting and looking up at Naruto. "Give me a break you little – " Erina knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling gently at him.

"Let him have this one." She whispered to him.

Sasuke sighed and leaned against her, the first show that he actually trusted her. He started to groan, clutching his chest. Kakashi looked down at him in near wonder, amazed at Sasuke's abilities at such a young age.

Erina's gasp broke his thoughts, and she looked up to where the Sand Genin were standing. Gaara was shaking, and staring so intently at Sasuke.

"We need to move him, Kashi." Erina said quietly. She could feel someone else's energy, it was sadistic, eager and focused. Not a good combination.

Kakashi nodded. But before they could do anything, one of the paramedics approached them. "Sasuke Uchiha, maybe you'd better come along to the infirmary too and let us treat your injuries."

Kakashi raised his head, "I think you're out of your league with this one." He said simply.

The medic looked confused.

"We'll look after him." They said at the same time. Kakashi knelt down to Erina's level, "Okay, up you go. You're coming with us." Kakashi's hand gripped the back of Sasuke's shoulder. "We've got to seal that curse mark." He whispered to Sasuke.

"Before the preliminaries are over? I wanna see who gets to go on to the finals." Sasuke nearly whined.

Kakashi stood.

"Forget it." Erina said with a stern tone.

"But – "

"And don't even think of arguing with her." Kakashi said, "If we leave it any longer, who knows, it may be too late. We've already cut you enough slack as it is." Kakashi's tone had authority, leaving Sasuke no room to argue with either of them.

"Come on, let's go." Erina said, lifting Sasuke gently to have his arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding most of his weight.

The three walked off slowly, Kakashi behind them in case they needed his assistance. They walked down to the cellar of the building they were in, and Kakashi got to work writing the ritualistic symbols on the ground. Erina stayed with Sasuke and tried to comfort him as best she could. He was barely staying awake.

Kakashi groaned in annoyance a few moments later.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking up at him.

He turned to face her, "I'm not good at this part." He said shyly.

She looked around and laughed, the markings were practically illegible, his hand writing still hadn't improved since they were kids.

"Here, let me do it. Come and stay with Sasuke." He walked over and handed her the bowl used for the markings, and got to work quickly, writing the symbols through the circle they were in.

"Hey, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Hmm?" Kakashi didn't take his eyes off Erina.

"What are you doing with her?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi didn't respond for a moment, then registered the question, looking down to meet the dark eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she's kind of out of your league, isn't she?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

Kakashi nearly laughed, "You have no idea."

"Then why are you two together?" the young student may be mature in his training years, but he still didn't understand all adult situations.

"What makes you think we're together?" Kakashi asked, nervous.

"The fact you never take your eyes off her unless you're touching her, like holding her hand or when she's in front of you."

_Am I that obvious?_

Kakashi smiled, "She's been my best friend since we were kids. She's the most amazing person I know, for many reasons." Kakashi drifted off into thought. "But we're not together. We're a team, we've been training together since we were three, we know each other's movements. And with her ability, she's a vital part to battle strategy and survival. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her."

"So why don't you tell her how you feel?" Sasuke asked, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"It's complicated, Sasuke. There's more to it, a lot more."

"So, simplify the situation, and tell her."

Kakashi nearly rolled his eyes, only an Uchiha would have that kind of confidence in everything he would do, even giving advice to others.

"Kay, done." Erina walked over and Kakashi ended the conversation quietly, looking up to see her standing there, the symbols now all neatly on the ground all around them.

"Sasuke, let me see your back." She asked.

"My back? Why?"

"It's part of the sealing process." Kakashi informed him.

Sasuke removed his shirt and exposed the curse mark, and Erina placed the symbols around the black circles, going down Sasuke's chest and back.

She finished and stood, placing the bowl outside the circle.

"Okay, it'll be over quickly." Kakashi said, standing next to her.

"It will hurt immensely Sasuke, but it will only be for a moment. If you can handle it for just a few seconds, it will be over." Erina said.

Sasuke nodded his understanding.

"You ready?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke looked up to his male sensei and nodded again.

Erina walked away from the circle and let Kakashi handle this part. His hands came together and he stood above Sasuke, he made the multiple hand signs and placed his palm flat on the curse mark, a light now radiating from Kakashi.

Sasuke screamed from the pain, the markings on the cement began to recede towards the curse mark, all flowing uninterrupted to form the seal.

The entire thing lasted fifteen seconds, and Sasuke was still screaming from the pain, now leaning away from Kakashi, panting.

Erina ran over to them, and knelt down to grip Sasuke's hand, "It's over, Sasuke." She said soothingly to him.

"Now the next time that curse mark starts acting up, the seal should keep it in check, but remember this curse sealing Jutsu is only as strong as you are. It derives its power from the strength of your will. If that will ever weakens, if you ever begin to doubt yourself, the curse will be unleashed in all its fury." Kakashi explained.

Sasuke fainted into Erina's lap and she sighed, shaking her head. She gently moved Sasuke onto the ground, walking next to Kakashi.

"Amazing, too tired to even argue." Kakashi quipped, earning a laugh from Erina.

She gathered up Sasuke's shirt, intending to take him to the hospital now to let him recover, but there was a sudden intrusion of chakra. The voice followed not long after.

"My, how beautiful you've become… Erina." Orochimaru said with a smile in his voice.

Kakashi gasped, pulling Erina close to him, protecting her.

"To think you've become strong enough to perform the curse sealing Jutsu." Orochimaru slowly walked out from behind a pillar, meeting eyes with the both of them.

"You…" Kakashi's voice was deadly.

Orochimaru stood there with a smile, "Long time no see, Kakashi." He all but laughed.

"Orochimaru…" Kakashi didn't know what to do, all he knew was that he had to keep Erina away from him.

They all stood facing each other, Erina trying desperately to not feed off Orochimaru's energy. She knew he was here; she was prepared for this.

"No offense Kakashi, but I didn't come to see either of you. My business is with that boy behind you." Orochimaru's soft, menacing voice explained.

Kakashi stiffened, "What do you want with Sasuke?"

Orochimaru gave a small laugh, "You've acquired something new, how I envy your good fortune. I don't believe you had it the last time we met, did you? The gift, the sharingan in your left eye. It's only fair that I should want it, too."

Kakashi growled in anger, pulling Erina further away.

"You wouldn't be trying to hide Erina, would you, Kakashi?" Orochimaru laughed, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

They gasped, and Kakashi no longer felt Erina's warmth in front of him. She was now being held in front of Orochimaru, a kunai to her throat, her arms held tightly behind her back.

"Let her go!" Kakashi demanded.

"You never did take advantage of her gifts, so why not give them to me?"

She struggled against Orochimaru's death like grip, losing the feeling in her arms.

Kakashi started to lunge at them, but the kunai went into her skin just enough to draw blood, "Careful. I'll kill her in an instant, you know I will."

Kakashi met her eyes, and there was no fear, just anger.

Damn him, Orochimaru was one of the few ninja Erina couldn't read. He always felt the same thing all the time, just excitement for what his next plan was. There was no way to tell when he would make a move, he never gave anything away.

"Tell me Kakashi, have you claimed her, yet?"

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi growled.

Orochimaru smiled as he let the kunai drop to the ground, but Erina wasn't safe yet. Orochimaru could snap her neck just as easily as he could cut her. His free hand began to unzip Erina's jacket, exposing her bra and chest to Kakashi now. The hand continued down her stomach and Kakashi could see Erina wincing, trying to not feel what was being done to her.

"Stop!" Kakashi yelled.

Orochimaru just laughed and leaned his head down to lick Erina's neck, sending a shiver up her spine. His hand traveled back up her stomach to land on one breast, gently massaging it. "You must have wondered what she looks like without this on. Tempting little thing, isn't she?" Orochimaru started to unfasten the front clip between her breasts, allowing them to swing free into his palm. "Look, Kakashi. Her skin is so soft, so warm. Don't you want to feel? Or have you already tasted her sweetness?"

"Damn you!" Kakashi yelled, taking a step towards them. "Let her go, now!"

Orochimaru clicked his tongue in disappointment, "Is he always this bossy?" he asked Erina, who was looking away from him, her eyes closed. "Open your eyes, Erina. I want you to look at Kakashi."

She shook her head.

"Do it now, or I'll kill both of you and take the boy."

Her panting was making her chest rise and fall, the distraction beginning to claim Kakashi's eyes.

_Focus! I've got to get her away from him._ Kakashi snapped back to reality.

"Tell me Kakashi, have you tasted her? Is she as delicious as she looks?" Orochimaru's hand stopped massaging her breast and trailed down again, "How does she taste… here?" he asked, pressing his hand between her legs, making her cry out in anger. She tried to swing at him with her elbows, growling from her irritation.

Orochimaru laughed in her ear, "Come now, my dear, you must know how Kakashi has felt all this time."

"Shut up!" Kakashi tried to speak over him.

"It's quite a sin of you, Kakashi. To keep this angel all to yourself."

Erina snapped. She kicked him from the side, only managing to get a few inches free, but that was all she needed. She gripped his shoulders from behind and lifted herself, jumping over him to grip his neck in her arm. "Don't ever call me angel." She whispered in his ear, while he laughed loudly.

"My, my, you two have certainly grown."

Kakashi sighed, relieved she was safe.

Erina stayed where she was, holding Orochimaru still.

"Erina, come here." Kakashi ordered.

She shook her head, meeting his eyes.

"Get away from him, now." Kakashi's voice carried death, his tone shutting down any chance she had of arguing. She panted, looked between him and Orochimaru, and sighed, releasing her captive slowly, and jumping away to land in front of Kakashi. He quickly pulled her behind him, protecting her.

"Kakashi – " she tried to ask why he was breaking their formation.

"I don't want him seeing you." Kakashi explained quietly, not taking his eyes off their target.

Orochimaru stood in front of them now with a lazy, disinterested posture.

"What's your game?" Kakashi asked.

"The Sound Village that everyone's curios about, it's mine, you see, I created it. I think you understand without my saying anymore."

"You and your wild - eyed ambition."

Orochimaru laughed again, "Oh yes, indeed. As always, to play the game, I need pieces on the chess board, willing pawns to do my bidding."

"And Sasuke is one of your pawns?"

"Oh, not at all, he's a far more valuable piece than that. But as for the others, well you know how it is in a game of chess. Pieces must be sacrificed." Orochimaru then began to walk towards them, Kakashi stepping back, reaching his hand behind him to pull Erina close. Orochimaru continued walking slowly, and Kakashi gasped, ordering him to stop, leaning over to one side to summon his Lightning Blade.

"Don't come any closer. I don't care if you are one of the Sannin, but I swear, take one more step towards Sasuke or Erina, and one of us will die here." Kakashi threatened.

Orochimaru did stop walking, but he was now staring at the both of them, laughing hysterically.

"Poor Kakashi, all your noble efforts, all in vain."

"What?"

"Do you really believe that the seal will hold? You think you can keep him from what he truly desires? You know I'm right. A heart like his that hungers for only one thing will not be denied, no matter what obstacles you put in his path."

"You think you can take advantage of that? Not Sasuke."

"You cannot stop it; at some point he will come to me." Orochimaru turned and started to walk away. "In search of power, unless of course you carry out your threat to kill me. Now's your chance. Take it, if you dare." Orochimaru challenged, not even turning around.

The Lightning Blade evaporated and Orochimaru disappeared. Kakashi was shaking, Erina could feel his terror. He didn't move, just stood there, still protecting her and Sasuke.

She slowly reached forward and touched his shoulder, startling him.

"He's gone, Kashi."

Kakashi turned around slowly, and looked to Sasuke then back at Erina. Sasuke wasn't woken.

Kakashi's eyes met hers, and he sighed, finally seeing that she was truly safe. He pulled her into an embrace, holding her tightly. Her chest was still bare and the images that Orochimaru forced into his mind came flooding back. His grip tightened.

"Kakashi, what's wrong?" Erina asked, reaching her arms up to circle around his neck.

He took another moment before he released her, "I'm just glad you're okay."

He started to unzip his Jōnin jacket and placed it on her shoulders, covering her still exposed breasts.

"Go home, Erina. I'll take Sasuke to the infirmary." Kakashi ordered, trying to not look at her.

"Kashi, don't you think we should talk?"

"About what?"

"About what Orochimaru said…" Erina didn't know how to continue.

"Forget about it, he was just spewing nonsense."

"Kakashi – "

"I said no, Erina! Just forget about it and go home!" For the first time since they'd known each other, he raised his voice at her in anger.

She jerked back, as if he had slapped her, but recovered quickly and walked up to him, gripping his chin to look him in the eye.

"Kakashi, what the hell is going on?"

"There's nothing going on."

"Then why are you so angry?" she asked, pleading with him to tell her the truth.

"Because…" he decided to tell a half truth. "Because I thought you were going to be taken away from me… please, just go home, so I know you're safe." He closed his eyes and hung his head.

She didn't respond for a moment, and pressed her forehead to his, "I was scared too, Kashi."

He tensed, remembering the sight of the kunai against her throat, actually drawing her blood.

"Please, Erina. Just go home, I'll be there shortly."

She paused, looking into his eyes, trying to read his emotions. But they were as he voiced, he simply wanted her to be safe.

She sighed and nodded, standing and walking over to grab her clothing. Kakashi picked Sasuke up and prepared to take him to the hospital.

He walked up to beside Erina, "Don't be long." She said, turning to stand on her tip toes and place a gentle kiss on his forehead. He nodded and watched her disappear in her puff of smoke.

He had to get his emotions under control before he went back to the apartment. And he didn't have long.

How the hell was he going to get himself out of this one?


	5. Secrets

Kakashi was able to deliver Sasuke to the hospital before he woke. He ensured that while Sasuke was recovering, he would be guarded by the ANBU; when it came to Orochimaru, one could never be too careful.

He waited outside the hospital doors but stood in place, thinking. The sights Orochimaru had put into his mind couldn't be erased. Erina didn't deserve any of it, but he didn't want her to find out how he felt before she was ready to accept it. Even if she didn't return his feelings, he just didn't want to scare her away. They'd been a team since childhood, could Orochimaru really have the power to reverse all their efforts in becoming what they were now?

Minato was able to get them to stop fighting against each other long enough for them to try working together, and they'd found it was so much more gratifying working as a team rather than constantly testing each other. They never did battles during missions; those always came first. The only thing that had really changed the most since they were kids was Kakashi himself. Erina had always had the best intentions of those around her as her first priority, and when they were younger, he was always jealous how Minato seemed to favor Erina over him. Her sensitivity always got her extra points with their sensei.

But when they started getting older, advancing in their ranks and were given the titles Jōnin, they had to start getting along. The Hokage would never allow either of them to be captains if they were always bickering. Minato did often like to tease them, saying they were already a married couple before the age of fifteen. When they finally showed what they were capable of as a team, they were given assignments together. Kakashi just couldn't ever understand how one could put anyone above the rules, the world just didn't work like that. But when Minato came to their house one night, before he was a Jōnin, they spoke with him until dawn. Erina had to live with Kakashi until she turned sixteen, to avoid being put in the foster program. She had been living with his family ever since she arrived at the village, which Kakashi could never remember how she came to be here. It was the one memory missing from his past.

Minato explained to Kakashi that night what Erina's gift was. He always had a basic understanding of what it was, he just always thought she was over sensitive. But when Minato explained it was a chemical in her brain that literally forced her to feel what others were feeling, he finally understood why she put others' wellbeing above everything else. Erina understood at a very young age why Kakashi was the way he was, that's why she never tried to change him. She was there the night his father committed suicide. But _The White Fang_ had ordered her to stay in her room, no matter what she heard. When Kakashi got home and found the body, it was the only time he'd ever cried. He and Erina spent the night together and he couldn't help but tell her everything. How he was hoping that someday his father would see him become a great ninja, just like he was. He began to think his father a coward. But Kakashi was just too young to understand. It took both the efforts of Erina and Minato to help him understand why his father had done what he did.

It took many years, but he finally forgave his father. After all, he couldn't be too angry with him, it was due to Sakumo that Erina was in his life to begin with. The earliest memory Kakashi had of his life with Erina was when he was two, and she was just an infant, so small and being held in his father's arms. Sakumo explained that Erina was going to be his responsibility from now on, that she would always be staying with them and under their care. He tried to help Kakashi understand why she was so special, but to a two – year - old, it didn't make much sense. He often thought Erina was like the younger sister he never wanted, but he grew to love her. And when they lost Obito in the Third Great Ninja War, she held him all night, told him she not only shared his pain because he was also her team mate, but because of her mind. For some reason, that was the most comforting thing she could have said, to let him know that he truly wasn't alone. The next morning, Kakashi had woken as a new person. He would follow the ways of Obito, Erina, Minato and his father. He understood now. After that day, he and Erina were inseparable. They eventually joined ANBU, they trained with Minato, they did everything together. Then when he was fourteen, he fell in love. It was so damn sudden she nearly picked up on it.

It had been thirteen years since he'd realized his feelings, and somehow, he managed to fool her every time.

"Kakashi? Why are you standing outside the hospital?" the voice of one of the orderlies reached his ears and he paused a moment.

"Just thinking."

"Shouldn't you be at the Chūnin Exams?" he asked.

"I'm headed there now." Kakashi turned to walk away.

_I need to find a way to get them to hold the Chūnin Exams, just until I inform The Hokage of what happened._

He reached the building quickly and found The Proctor waiting for him. The exams were forbidden to continue without the sensei's present, which posed a problem since Erina wasn't with him.

"Kakashi, where have you been? Where is Sandā?"

"She's at home, resting." He explained, coming to a stop and putting his hands in his pockets.

"What's going on?"

"We had a run in with Orochimaru, Sandā was targeted, but unharmed."

"Damn." The Proctor looked up to The Hokage's office.

"I'm heading to the office now to tell The Hokage, but you need to postpone the Preliminary round until we return, Sandā and I have to speak." Kakashi tried to put as much authority in his voice as he could, making it clear there was no choice in the matter.

The Proctor nodded, "Very well, I will inform the Genin that they have been given a two - hour delay."

Kakashi nodded and disappeared, heading to The Hokage's office. He opened the door and The Third was sitting in his chair, smoking his pipe.

"Kakashi, why are you not at the Exams with your students?" he asked.

"Sandā and I were performing the sealing Jutsu on Sasuke and Orochimaru tracked us. Sandā was targeted, but wasn't hurt."

The Hokage nodded, "I see… so he is already making his move."

"He was dressed in a captain's uniform with a Sound Village head band, he said he had created The Sound Village."

"Hmm…" The Hokage didn't seem interested. "And Sandā?"

"At home, resting. I've asked The Proctor to postpone the Preliminaries for a couple hours, for us to plan our next move."

"And Sasuke?"

"In the hospital, recovering. He'll most likely be unconscious for a few days, he pushed his body beyond its limits and the seal took a lot out of him. There's ANBU guarding him around the clock."

"Good. You should go and check on your partner, we'll handle it from here."

Kakashi nodded and bowed, turning to head through the door. But he had to ask, "Lord Hokage… what do you suppose Orochimaru is planning?" he turned around to meet his eyes.

The Hokage paused a moment, "Nothing good, I know that." He said quietly.

Kakashi turned away and left without a word.

He quickly headed to his apartment and tried to ready himself, but his nerves were practically fried. He didn't know what the hell was going on.

He sighed, opening the door and found Erina standing four feet in front of him with her arms crossed and tapping her foot. "You said you wouldn't take long; it's been an hour."

"I'm sorry Erina, I had to inform The Hokage and get the Exams put on hold for the time being."

"How long are they postponed?" she asked, coming to stand next to him and sit him down on the couch.

"Two hours." He sat down with a loud sigh and groan, already tired from today's demands.

"Kakashi…" she nearly whispered his name.

"Hmm?" he opened his uncovered eye and saw there was hesitation written on her features.

"We should talk about what Orochimaru said."

He sighed again, "Don't worry about it, Erina. He's just a crazed ninja making up lies."

She sat herself down on the edge of the table in front of him, and quickly gripped the top of his mask, pulling his face close to hers and exposing part of it.

"Why do I get the feeling that's not true?" she raised her voice, frustration clear in her tone.

He gripped her wrist and pulled himself free of her grip, still holding tightly, "Be careful how you speak to me Erina, I'm extremely pissed off at the moment."

She stood, towered over him by two feet, "How the hell do you think I feel? I don't like it when things are hidden from me, Kakashi! You know that." She tore her hand away and stared him down.

"Nothing is being hidden from you! Now just let it go!" He stood to his full five – foot ten height and looked down at her now, never breaking their eye contact.

"You're lying. Orochimaru set you off, you've never reacted like that to pure bullshit from an enemy. You know better than to respond when crap is being thrown at you. So why did you get so angry?"

"I wasn't angry." He tried to breathe evenly, control his emotions.

"Are you forgetting who you're speaking to?" she looked up at him with anger, "I can feel that you're lying. Your hearts racing and you're trying to stay calm. Why the hell won't you just tell me what's going on? You've never hidden anything from me before."

"Because you don't need to know this!" he turned and walked into the bedroom.

"Kakashi!" she yelled after him but he didn't stop. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. He just knew he had to put some space between them. His emotions were starting to take over, he couldn't lose control now. She couldn't find out.

She followed him, nearly stomping. "Talk to me. Stop lying and just talk to me." She blocked his way and stood there, all five – foot – four of complete anger.

"You don't know what you're asking, Erina! Forget Orochimaru and forget what you heard!"

She walked up to him and pushed him on the bed with force. He wasn't expecting it, but he stood up again quickly and was able to cross the room to her in two large steps, shoving her against the wall, holding her arms in place. She was breathing heavily, "If you think I can ever forget the murder I saw in your eyes, Kakashi… you don't know me at all."

He looked down, saw her body trembling against him. Why the hell did she have to be so damn stubborn?

"That's what scared me the most… the anger I saw and felt in you… I thought I was going to witness you kill someone out of pure rage. And the only way you could have felt those things is if Orochimaru's words had truth in them. So, start talking."

He shook his head.

"Just tell me the truth!" her voice was quivering with fear now.

He lifted a hand and punched a hole through the wall, next to her shoulder. He raised his head, met her eyes, she saw everything.

"I'm right on the edge, Erina…" he whispered.

She gasped and tears started to slowly fall down her cheeks. She had never seen him so undone before. Everything was there, the anger at what Orochimaru had done to her in front of him, the fear of losing her, the hope of what they could become someday.

"Kakashi…" she whispered.

Her panting chest drew his attention and he looked down, his mouth now watering to have her.

"Erina…" he breathed hard, his strong sense of smell making him more aroused. She smelled so good.

His body began to move on its own and he rested his forehead on her shoulder, panting. "Get out. You have to leave." He said.

"What?"

He stepped away and tried to leave the bed room, but she gripped his wrist and pulled him back.

"You can't tell me to leave after what just happened."

"I can and I have." He said, now refusing to look at her. He couldn't stand the look of pity. She would feel sorry for him, sorry that she couldn't return his feelings.

"Kakashi, maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm a grown woman who can make my own decisions." She said with anger.

He growled, spinning to pin her against the wall again. He caught her wrists, one hand holding it above her head, the other holding one near her hip.

"I've noticed for the past ten _fucking_ years, Erina." He was growling in her ear now, "This outfit you wear every damn day, revealing everything but hiding just enough to drive my imagination crazy. Your hair, your hips, that taunting fucking jewel on your stomach." He met her eyes and didn't see what he expected. Instead, there was desire. He was losing control; he could feel he was about to take her.

"Kakashi, why would you hide this from me?"

He didn't answer her question, "You should have left."

"I'm not leaving." She challenged.

"You have no idea what you're doing."

His hand released her wrist by her hip, wandering up to the small of her back, pushing her closer to him. He felt her gently grind against his now painfully hard erection.

His hand continued upward, stopping at her zipper and slowly pulling down, exposing the dark red bra that was laced with jewels. Her panting was making her breasts rise and fall, but his eyes stayed locked with hers. His other hand released her fingers against the wall and tangled themselves in her hair, holding her captive. He tipped her head back and made her look up at him.

"For ten years, you've haunted me, Erina. Ten years you've stolen my thoughts, made me crave your taste like the damn air I need to breathe. You've owned me for so long." He whispered, slowly leaning closer to her lips.

"Kakashi…" she gasped, her voice high and pleading.

He tilted his head to the side, quickly reaching up a finger to pull down his mask, and took the time to enjoy his journey. Her scent completely claimed his senses, the vanilla bourbon and creamy sandalwood most dominant. His lips slowly began to kiss along her neck, trailing up and down, his tongue licking her delicious skin.

"Kakashi, stop teasing me." She whined.

"You should be careful what you ask for."

"Why do you keep resisting?" she reached up and pulled him away from her neck, his mouth already hungry for more.

"Because I'm waiting for you to stop me."

Anger was now in her eyes, and she spun them around so he was up against the wall, her lithe body plastered against him. "What makes you think I'd want you to stop?" she whispered, unzipping his Jōnin jacket and removing it from his shoulders. He panted. There was hunger in her gaze, craving and a raw sexual need.

"Erina, we shouldn't do this." He tried to use logic to stop them both, but they were so far beyond the point of no return. He'd tasted her, finally. He'd seen the same need in her that he'd been feeling for over a decade.

"If it's so wrong, why does it feel so right when your mouth is on me?" she asked, removing her jacket fully now. She stood before him in her black skin tight pants and dark red bra, her hair cascading over her shoulders and her body beckoning him completely.

"This is your last chance, Erina. Leave while you can."

"You said you'd noticed I'm a grown woman. Yet you still order me around like a child."

"I'm trying to protect you."

"From what?" she stood against him, lifted her knee and rubbed him.

"From me." His hands drifted down to grip her bottom tightly, kneading and pulling her closer. "I won't stop until I've claimed you in every way."

"What makes you think I haven't felt the same, Kakashi?" she looked closely, analyzing him. "I've craved you for so long." She sighed against his lips.

Her words made his blood boil, the lust over taking him. He spun them around again and shoved her hard, her gasp escaping as a moan. He lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around his hips, securing him.

"You've had your chance to run." His fingers slowly landed between her breasts and unhooked the front clasp of her bra, her breasts now swinging free. She gasped and leaned her head back against the wall, allowing herself to be completely exposed to him. His hands greedily cupped her breasts, her nipples begging to be tasted.

"I can't be gentle, Erina." He warned, his lips roughly kissing down her neck.

"I don't want gentle, Kakashi. I want everything you've felt for ten years." She gasped.

Her legs tightened around him and he could smell her arousal. He surrendered.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and his mouth claimed hers with such force, he'd feared he'd harmed her. But she moaned, pulling him closer, his hands pinching her nipples and roughly massaging her breasts. He couldn't stop touching them, her skin was so soft. Softer than he could have imagined.

His mouth opened and his tongue claimed hers, his teeth nipping and biting. His erection was beginning to throb. He pushed against her, trying to get some relief.

He freed her arms of her bra and tossed it into a corner, setting her on her feet and trailing his mouth down her incredible body. He kissed, licked and bit her, marking her everywhere he possibly could. She gripped a fistful of his hair, urging him on. She gasped, panted and begged. His mouth drove her wild.

His fingers reached up to unbutton her pants, slowly pulling them down to reveal smooth skin, her legs already slightly trembling.

She stepped out of her pants and his mouth kissed up her thigh, his tongue dragging slowly to her hip, giving a kiss, then continuing to between her legs. He kissed first, her gasp pulling herself away from his lips, but he pulled her forward and sealed his mouth to her arousal. She smelled divine, his sensitive nose driving him mad.

"Kakashi…" she moaned his name and he felt himself harden even more.

His hands lifted to spread her more, exposing her clit and he licked hard, making her jerk in surprise.

"Kakashi, wait – "

"No." he didn't pause, his mouth ravenously devouring her. She tasted sublime, her arousal finally satisfying the hunger he'd felt for so long.

She began to slip from the wall, his mouth too good for her to be able to stand straight. He pulled her down all the way and lay her flat on the carpet, spreading her legs to his demands and continued licking and sucking. She moaned, her fingers tightening in his hair and pulling him closer, her hips now beginning to grind into his mouth.

"Mhmm… Erina." He spread her more, observing her delicious, weeping sex. He crawled over her, pushing his clothed erection to between her legs. "_Koneko_, you're mine." He whispered, his mouth taking a nipple between his teeth.

She whimpered, "P-please, Kashi."

He gripped her hands and pulled her up with him, his lips seeking hers and walking her to the bed. He pushed her down, her breasts jumping with the force he'd used.

He took a moment to admire the sight, knowing fully well what he was about to do, how hard he was about to claim her, finally make her his.

She didn't give him long to look, she eagerly sat up and started to open his pants and pull his shirt completely off, along with his mask. Her hands made quick work to free his aching member, wrapping around him as best she could. Her small hands did the best they could to grip him. He tipped his head back and groaned, her mouth first gently sucking on his tip, taking him in further with each suck. She used her tongue to wrap around him from the bottom, her teeth very gently grazing along his thick shaft.

"_Erina_." He nearly came right there, but by some miracle, he held on and was able to lower his head to watch this dangerous woman suck him between her incredible lips.

She was on her knees and used one hand to keep herself balanced, her other hand keeping a firm hold at the base of his erection. Her lips met her hand, and he groaned loudly, pushing in as far as he could. He was waiting to hear her gag and try to pull away, but there was only an aroused groan coming from her mouth.

_Does she not have a gag reflex?_ He thought.

"Erina, you have to slow down." He tried to make her understand that he would harm her if she didn't ease up a bit when taking him completely in her mouth.

She released him with a pop and smirked, "No." she took him fully again and he moaned, his hands coming up to grip her hair and push the strands away from her face so he could see her. He gripped her hair tightly in one hand and allowed his free one to trace her jawline, feeling her tongue expertly work his cock inside her mouth.

"Erina, I'll hurt you if you don't – "

She cut his argument off by taking him as far as she physically could, her lips now making contact with the base.

"_Uhn!"_ he gasped and shuddered, the incredible feeling of her mouth taking him so completely and feeling the back of her throat was more than Kakashi could have ever imagined.

She kept him there and he lost the battle of trying to control himself. While he was still so deeply inside her mouth, he started to thrust, his hands still keeping her head still while her mouth remained open for him.

His thrusts were short and powerful, and she began to moan in time with them, the sound nearly completely muffled by the size of his cock being held between her lips, but it somehow managed to sound even more sexy then her loud moans.

_Fuck._ He couldn't remember the last time he was this turned on, his balls were starting to ache from the need to come. But he didn't want to steal the experience of her orgasm, she had to come first. If he failed at everything else today, he would not fail at this. He wanted to watch her come for him, look into his eyes and scream his name as he made her his, as he claimed her in the punishing way she obviously needed.

He started to pull out more, her lips becoming almost begging without using words. When he pulled out all the way, his thick cock now shining in its spoiled glory, she licked her lips in eager impatience. She tried to inch forward, but he held her still, his hands hadn't moved from holding her hair and he pushed himself through her lips.

He took it slow, her tongue curling at the tip when he was fully in her mouth again, the pressure just right, and the back of her tongue wrapped around him as best she could at the tip of his member.

"Erina – " he gasped as she gently grazed her teeth along him again. "You're fucking incredible."

Her small body was curled in the middle of her back, giving him an unforgettable view. Her mouth taking him so perfectly, her ass lifted up in the air for him to appreciate. There were scars along her body, scars that he had witnessed her receive. Her scars only made her more arousing to him, he didn't want some pathetic little delicate flower he had to protect from a paper cut. He wanted an amazing woman that stood up to him, wasn't afraid of his power, matched him blow for blow. And that woman was currently on her knees giving him something that _Icha Icha_ couldn't hold a candle to.

He fucked her mouth ruthlessly, but he wanted her to come as well. He was able to easily reach his hand back and play with her clit. His six - inch height difference and how long his arms were easily made him able to plunge his fingers inside her soaking wet heat. It only made him more impatient to be inside her.

"Mhmm!" she gasped in surprise; the sound muffled again by his thick length dominating her mouth. His fingers pumped her rhythmically, pushing up to his second knuckle, making her ass bounce in sync with his ministrations.

His grip in her hair tightened, and he moaned loudly, feeling his release coming.

He was only able to fit two fingers inside her virgin lips, but he didn't hesitate to take advantage of using his ring finger to play with her clit, the tight little bundle of nerves her undoing.

She started to suck him in deeper, her moans vibrating throughout him. He couldn't resist the opportunity to remove his hand for a moment and smack her ass so loudly, he was sure it would be red in moments. He returned his hand to where it was and she was on the brink, he could feel her tightening around his fingers, he pumped her hard.

"Are you going to come for me, _koneko_?" he asked, his voice rough.

She tried to nod; her moans barely being heard.

"Ah… Erina – I'm – " he gasped on his orgasm, and felt the incredible relief of pulsing into her mouth, her greedy lips sucking him even more to not miss a drop. He stopped pumping his fingers but pushed hard on her clit, making her twitch, the scent of her orgasm invading his sense of smell. He growled and pushed to the back of her throat, pouring himself free. He felt her tight heat grip him, begging for something more. She came around his fingers hard and he had to bow forward just from the intensity of it all.

She gasped around his length and the sound was so sudden to him, he jerked away momentarily, but didn't get far. His cock fell from her lips but she kept her mouth open and her tongue out, the last bit of his come landing on her tongue, while she leaned forward and licked him clean.

He panted, sure his heart stopped. Was this really happening? Did the woman he'd known all his life, the woman that always bested him, the woman he wanted to take for his own more than anything, really have his cock in her mouth and swallow when he came?

They were still for a moment, Kakashi removing his fingers from her now dripping sex. He brought his fingers between them, and used his other hand to gently lift her chin, making her look up at him.

"Suck." He ordered.

She opened her mouth obediently and he placed his fingers on her wet lips, her mouth closing around them tightly to use her tongue and clean them of her own wetness. It was the most erotic thing Kakashi had seen.

"How do you taste, Erina?" he asked, his free hand tracing her jawline gently again.

"I like your taste more." She teased.

He pulled his fingers free and claimed her mouth with his, kissing her fiercely, tasting her arousal on her tongue. He moaned into the kiss, biting her bottom lip and caressing her cheek.

He released her from the kiss and was about to climb over her but she leaned down and started licking all over his body. He watched her, mesmerized, as she kissed, licked and nipped at all of the scars on his chest. Somehow, she made even his scars acceptable. He didn't look at them as failures when she had her mouth on them, he now saw them as part of who he was. As something they shared together.

"Come here." He pulled her away from his chest and lay her down, her breasts catching his attention again. Her nipples were hard and he couldn't resist biting them, she tasted so good.

His hand traveled down her chest to her stomach, lower to between her legs, flicking her clit and making her cry out. He continued and pressed his thumb into her sensitive button and pushed his fingers through once again, curling them upwards as he'd read women often liked, and she screamed his name. He smiled while he switched to her other breast and started to suck hard. His fingers didn't stop, he pressed his thumb hard and his speed increased, making her hips thrust upward with the motion of his hand.

"_Fuck_, Kakashi." She growled, irritated that he was taking his sweet time.

He curled his fingers upwards and she tightened around him, coming hard and he felt her delicious arousal coat his fingers.

"You respond so well, Erina." He teased, now slowly withdrawing and pushing his fingers back in. She tilted her head back, crying out, the pleasure almost too much. He started to grow hard again, his shaft thickening with the sight in front of him. She was completely surrendering to his will, and that was one of the things that turned him on the most.

"Are you going to come for me again?" he asked, watching her eyes slowly open to meet his mismatched ones.

"Yes!" she cried out as he increased his rhythm again.

"How bad would you like to come?" he kissed her neck and bit her harshly, leaving a mark.

"Kakashi – stop screwing around and let me come!"

"Mhmm… I think you've come enough." He started to slow down and was about to remove his hand entirely, but she held his wrist there in a near death grip, and met his eyes again.

"Don't you dare stop." She threatened.

He smirked, kissing beneath her ear, then whispered, "How would you keep me here?"

She growled in response and surprised him by flipping them over, now resting over top of him, her breasts near his mouth and his hands gripped her ass.

"_Koneko_, are you getting impatient?" he teased.

She nodded, her cheeks flushing slightly red. She settled just over his erection and started to very gently move up and down, giving the impression that she was fucking him.

He groaned and gripped her hips. "Erina."

She placed herself directly over his cock and very slowly lowered herself down, but only when his tip just barely touched her folds, she stopped and started moving forward and back, rubbing his swollen erection over her slick wetness but not entering.

"Fucking tease." He growled, gripping her waist entirely with his large hands.

"You're the tease. You weren't going to let me come." She struck back, still gently riding him, her arousal now dripping down onto his erection.

"I was fully intending to make you come again." He reached his hand forward and started to play with her now slightly swollen clit. "If you begged me."

"Kakashi – "

He reached up with his free hand and held her up higher over his member, now no longer able to make physical contact with him. He gripped her ass tightly and continued to play with her little clit, flicking it and rubbing it, making her jerk in response.

"Beg me, _koneko_." He demanded, smacking her ass once again for good effect.

"Make me, jackass." She challenged him. He loved when she challenged him.

Her hands gripped his shoulders tightly and she tried to rock against his hand, creating more stimulation. But when she moved, he stopped movement completely.

"Only I can make you come." He nearly laughed at how angry she looked.

She tried to push herself down onto him again but he held her tightly, he did have more physical strength than her.

"Beg for it, Erina. And I'll make you come." He kept teasing her clit just to drive her mad.

She bit her lip, and surrendered. A woman could only take so much. "Fuck! Please let me come, Kakashi. Please!"

"I know you can do better than that." He leaned up slightly and whispered to her, "Be e_xplicit_."

He lay his head back down on the mattress and watched her as she flipped her hair to one side and met his eyes, he nearly stopped breathing at how beautiful she was.

"Kakashi, please, I need you to make me come. Fuck me, _please_. I wanna come for you so bad." She moaned on the last word.

He growled and gripped his erection while she lowered herself down and he used his hand to rub himself against her wetness again, her scent reached his nose and he groaned. He rubbed his shaft forward and back as she had before, applying pressure to just the right spots and pinched her clit, making her cry out. He kissed her hard and dominated her tongue, her arousal still able to be tasted.

He bit her lip as she came again, he felt the wetness start to cover his cock. He couldn't wait anymore.

He panted, preparing for the one thing he had been waiting for, for ten years.

He gave her a moment to recover, gently kissing her forehead, her shoulder and collar bone. His hands roamed up her back and he held her close.

Her breathing started to return to normal and she looked at him with such love and need, he almost stopped breathing.

He lifted up to her, kissing her sweetly. She took a sitting position, her knees bent on either side of his legs. Their kiss didn't break, and he gathered her hair in his fingers again, he couldn't stop touching it. He could feel the heat from her, she was nearly sitting on top of him, his member weeping to be inside her.

He broke the kiss and looked at her, "Erina…" he didn't know what else to say.

She nodded and kept eye contact with him.

One of his hands went to her back again, his other still tangled in her hair. He breathed heavily, trying to control himself.

She lowered herself slowly, and he felt himself start to be slowly taken within her. First his tip, still wet with pre – come was inside her. He wanted nothing more than to force his way through, but he had to be gentle at this part. He wasn't exactly average size and she was incredibly small.

She continued, so agonizingly slowly he thought he'd lose his mind. But she wrapped her arms around him and bit her lip, gently moaning at the feeling of being filled so entirely. And he wasn't even half way inside her yet.

She pushed down more, her tightness gripping him so perfectly, he leaned his head forward and groaned, his hand on her back roaming up to grip her shoulder to give himself leverage.

She kept going and he was half way there, he met her eyes again and saw she had hers closed, her face in pure bliss.

"Look at me, Erina." He whispered.

She opened her eyes slowly and opened her mouth in a soundless cry, sinking lower and lower.

"_Fuck_." He growled, gripping her tightly and holding on for dear life.

Her eyes seemed to shine, everything he'd ever dreamed of seeing within them now there. He held her close and refused to look away, finally daring to say the words he'd been too terrified to say for thirteen years. "I love you." He whispered against her lips.

She didn't hesitate, but nodded, "I love you." She said, her voice shaking.

"_Uhn_!" he pulled her down the last bit he needed to be completely inside her, and he'd never felt something so incredible in his life.

She let out a small squeak, the sudden intrusion of the last few inches filling her so fully.

He had to stay still for a moment, if he continued, he'd come in seconds. He panted into her neck, his grip on her hair and shoulder never loosening.

"Kakashi…" she moaned his name, starting to pull herself up to create some kind of friction.

He held her still, gripped her waist with his hands and hissed at the feeling. It was too good, way too good. He had to get control of himself.

He lifted his head and claimed her mouth, she tasted like the most incredible thing Kakashi could imagine, it was like she'd been created specifically for him. Everything about her dominated his thoughts, stole his mind and owned him.

She started to move again, going forward and back, grinding her clit along him. But he was so deeply inside her, he could feel her tightening already, and he held her still once again.

She pulled away from the kiss, "Kakashi, what's wrong?" she was breathless.

"… a minute, just a minute…" he could barely speak.

"I don't – "

He didn't let her finish, he sealed his mouth on her breast, sucking hard and making her cry out. He held her still by gripping her hip, he only needed a few more moments.

She grew even more wet from his mouth sucking her nipple, leaving red marks on her pale skin.

When he pulled away and admired the view, he raised his hand up to her back and gripped her shoulder again from behind, holding tightly. His other hand wound itself in her hair once more, and he finally started to move.

He pulled himself all the way out, and thrust back in so quickly, she jumped from surprise and squealed.

"Hold on, baby." He whispered and started to use his arm on her shoulder for the leverage he needed, gripped her hair tight, and pounded her relentlessly.

She held on to his shoulders and rocked with his rhythm, grinding herself against him wherever she could.

"Ugh, fuck Erina." Kakashi groaned, tipping his head back and succumbing to the sensation of having her finally taking him.

He started to slow down, gently pumping her to feel her clench around him. She came without warning, her wetness pulsing around him. She was robbing him of all his energy, he couldn't stay sitting up.

He fell to the bed with a groan, watching her ride him with ecstasy. His hands gripped her waist and watched her lose control, her moaning echoing on the walls around them, her eyes closed and breasts bouncing with the force of her jumping. She fell forward and her hands landed on his chest, her hips never stopping. She started to move forward and back, causing him to hit something inside her, he had no idea what. But it felt incredible. She started to cry out louder, making him hit that sweet spot inside her. The speed she moved her hips was amazing, and he reached forward to pinch her clit again. She came with a cry of his name.

He gripped her hip and shoulder, pushing her to the side and landing on top of her, quickly turning her over on to her stomach and pushing her to lie with her front flush on the mattress, his hands still gripping her waist, making her ass lift into the air. He pushed himself through and started to pound her from behind, her cries becoming louder.

"Kakashi…" she whined his name, the force of his thrusts making her voice crack slightly. His hands moved down to her ass and gripped each cheek in a palm, gripping tightly and forcing her to work with his movement, their skin creating a sexy slapping sound.

He had to stop for a moment, feeling his orgasm approaching far too quickly. He groaned and pulled himself free, breathing deeply and slowly.

"Mhmm, Kakashi…" she whined again. He'd never seen her this way; it was incredibly arousing.

She wiggled her ass at him in invitation, leaning up on her arms. He slammed into her again and she fell with the force of it, a small laugh escaping her lips. He fucked her hard, his hands again gripping her ass and forcefully making her grind back against him.

He leaned his head back and moaned, her cries adding an extra sensuality to it.

He started to slow again, but she continued without him. His hands fell and he just watched as she moved her ass up and down hard, creating a delicious friction, her clit repeatedly rubbing up and down on his balls.

"Good girl." He said, watching her fuck herself on him. She started to pull forward and push back, his member filling her over and over again.

He held her still and pushed her down, following her and pressing his chest to her back. He pushed himself as far as he could inside her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and gripping the opposite side. He didn't give her a moment to think. He pushed up and barely pulled out, his hips starting to piston.

"Oh! Yes!... yes, please, p – please. _Ah_!"

"Come, _koneko_." Kakashi whispered in her ear, licking and biting the skin.

"Kakashi!"

"Come for me."

"Kashi, I'm g – gonna come on your cock ag – gain!" he pushed all the way in and stayed still, her heat grinding against him. "_Oh_! Mhmm... _Yes_!..._ Uhn_!"

"Such a fucking good girl." He felt her come around him again, pulling his hips out to push back in while she was coming, the sound of her orgasm evident between them.

He slowly pulled out and rolled her over, giving her a gentle kiss before he spread her legs to him and plunged deep inside again. Her legs wrapped around his lower back and she pushed him in deeper, making him moan.

"Erina…" he leaned forward and pinched her nipple, sealing his mouth to hers in a punishing kiss. He slowly pulled out and pushed back in with force, slowly pulled out again, repeated the actions to make her lips become slightly swollen, making her feel even tighter.

"God damn." He groaned, continuously repeating the action while sucking on her neck.

"Kashi…" she moaned his name, her nails scratching his back. "Mhmm… mhmm… uhn!" she pulsed around him, beckoning him to come inside her. He was so close.

She started to thrust up into him, making him go even deeper. He had to stop and watch, she lifted her lower body on her legs and started to fuck herself again on him, thrusting up and down on his shaft while he was leaning over her.

That was when he couldn't control himself anymore. He let out an animalistic growl and lifted her legs up, bending them back towards her chest and opening her to him completely. He held her legs there, using his hands to hold her ankles and she threw her head back when he forced himself in. She arched her back, taking him deeper, then watched as he fucked her without hesitation.

"Kakashi, yes." She moaned, "Yes, please, I'm – "

He pushed in so hard she was pushed up the bed and he fell out. He didn't hesitate, he gripped her waist, turned her over again, her knees supporting her, and gripped her wrists, gently pulling them behind her to give him leverage. He pounded her, hard and unforgivingly. He let out everything he'd kept inside for ten years. Have gave her all of it, the love, the sexual need.

"Fuck, baby." He growled, kissed her back, her neck, while he pounded her. She grew tight around him, and he knew he was finished, no way could he handle her coming around him one more time. "Erina, I'm gonna come." He moaned out, going even faster, trying to come with her.

"Please, Kashi!" she pushed back into him, and he felt his erection hit her sweet spot, and she clenched around him, triggering his own orgasm.

"_Uhn_!" he couldn't move, he was so deeply within her, and he felt her coming around him, his own come now pulsing inside her. The thought of filling her up made his orgasm that much more powerful. He growled again and leaned down to bite her neck hard, leaving one final mark on her. She belonged to him, no one could deny it now.

He leaned over her now trembling body, panting and trying to calm down. He pulled himself free and kissed down her back, biting every now and then.

He kissed up to her neck and she turned over, a smile on her face. She pulled him close and kissed him hard, her tongue teasing his. He laughed slightly and pulled away, caressing her face.

It then dawned on him just how rough with her he was, and he grew worried. "Are you hurt?" he was almost too scared to ask; afraid she'd deny him the one thing he knew he needed more than anything in the future.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not made of glass, Kakashi." She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, claiming his mouth once more in a deep kiss.

He encircled his arms around her waist, feeling her body. It felt different now, he had claimed her entirely.

She met his eyes, allowing his emotions to run through her. She felt nothing but love and devotion.

"Why didn't you tell me, Kakashi?" she asked with a small voice.

He sighed, unsure how to answer. "I was worried it would change… us… the way we were. If you felt differently, it would change everything… I didn't want to risk it."

"How do you feel now?"

He smiled, "Glad that you're so damn stubborn."

She smiled back and stood to walk to the washroom. When she returned a few moments later, he was laying on the bed almost asleep.

"Kakashi, we have to go back to the exam."

"Ugh, do we have to?" he whined, rolling over and burying his face in the pillows.

"Hmm, I never knew what an adorable ass you have." She laughed.

He raised a hand, "You never say a man's ass is adorable." He said, standing and walking over to her quickly.

"Why not?" she teased.

He pulled her close, lifting her by grabbing her bottom and making her legs wrap around his waist, "Because this," he smacked her ass, "is an adorable ass." He said, leaning in to kiss her.

She moaned into the kiss but started to push him away.

"Seriously Kashi, we have to head back, they'll be waiting for us. And we need to find out what The Hokage is going to do about Orochimaru."

"You're such a buzzkill." He whined, setting her down on her feet.

She shrugged her shoulders and walked over to her clothes to get dressed. Quickly pulling her pants on, clipping her bra into place and securing her jacket and zipping it up. But Kakashi noticed something.

"You know people will ask about that." He said, turning away and dressing himself.

"About what?" she looked at him with a confused expression.

"What's on your neck and chest." He smiled, knowing she couldn't see his face.

She ran into the bathroom and saw in the mirror what he was talking about. The very obvious marks he'd left on her, they were on her neck, collar bone and just above her breasts, put in their positions on purpose so they couldn't be covered by her every day wear.

"Kakashi!" she yelled, storming into the bed room, but he wasn't there.

"Come on, we'll be late." He laughed while he jumped away from the open front door, heading to the exam he'd had put on pause.

"Jackass." She mumbled to herself, but had to smile. She found it oddly satisfying to have been marked by him so obviously. She followed after him and he was already inside the auditorium, Kakashi standing among Naruto and Sakura.

Now, the exam had to resume.


End file.
